


Sweet Disposition

by Eunmih, shitty4eyes



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Colourblind Kihyun - Freeform, Fluffy lil Rom Com - Freeform, M/M, Tattoo Artist Changkyun, Texting, dating app
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-14
Updated: 2019-02-14
Packaged: 2019-10-22 19:47:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 45,720
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17668943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eunmih/pseuds/Eunmih, https://archiveofourown.org/users/shitty4eyes/pseuds/shitty4eyes
Summary: There's a colour in his laughter, a colour in the way he kisses, and it's completely his own. Kihyun doesn't know what that colour looks like, but he can feel it when he meets Changkyun, an artist that dabbles in a spectrum Kihyun will never know.





	Sweet Disposition

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, everyone! Happy Valentine's Day!  
> We bring you some fluff today, hope you'll enjoy. We had fun writing this fic (it was troublesome to edit but so, so worth it)!  
>    
> Now playing: [Sweet Old Song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hv3HLlpD9is) by The Native Architects.

“Do you think anybody is ever actually honest in these things?”

There’s a small, comfortable porch outside the parlor. Changkyun had been intent on not falling into whatever intimidating aura a place where one gets poked and stabbed lightly (sometimes not) with needles usually gives off. For people who’ve never had a tattoo, walking into a place that punches them in the face with it? Nah. Instead, the place usually just smells like coffee. The walls are covered in Changkyun’s art, which, also, he’s been told, falls just a bit out of the usual. It’s _simple_ , because Changkyun can’t concentrate if there’s too much around him, even if his art can be surreal, elaborate, colourful.

What is _usual_ anyway.

“I mean,” Changkyun continues, sitting forward on the couch outside, holding up his phone to wiggle it a little like that helps with seeing anything on it. “Your boyfriend’s dating app. I’ve seen people claim the _oddest_ things on here.”

“Like, for example?” Hyungwon asks, eyebrow up despite the unimpressed face. “Look, I think it’s same in real life. Maybe because they’re behind a screen they feel more inclined to lie. But it also works the other way around. Some people find safety behind the screen. It’s easier to tell the truth without feeling the questioning, judging look of somebody else.”

Changkyun huffs because, _yeah, good point_ , falling back and crossing his legs on the couch. “I haven’t been on here. Takes the romance out of the whole thing, doesn’t it?”

Hyungwon stares, finally looking amused. He leans back and crosses his arms. “What would you define as ‘romance’?”

Changkyun rolls his eyes. “Why, so you can judge it?”

Hyungwon raises both hands and also both eyebrows. “I just _asked_ , Mr. Edgelord.”

“I just _know_ you, okay.” He looks at the time. He has a consultation soon; a girl who wants something specific designed in Changkyun’s style. Those were always a favourite. Like a challenge but with his fingerprints all over it. “I don’t know. Who wants to go around telling everyone they met the love of their life on a _dating_ app?”

“In this day and age?” Hyungwon shrugs and crosses his arms again. “It’s as plausible as running over them with a truck. Besides… It just helps you start a conversation. Honestly? Most people can’t get past the first ‘hey’. And those who do need to survive a bunch of boring ‘the sky is blue’ conversations. It’s a challenge! And sometimes you’ll be catfished. Which is great fun.”

Changkyun laughs. “How is that _fun_?” He flicks through the app, anyway, through the pictures of people that they must judge to be one of their best.

Hyungwon shrugs and points at Changkyun’s phone. “Look. Try it. Hit someone up. Someone random, who’s… your type? If you have one. And if it doesn’t work, cool. Try again or don’t. I don’t care. But don’t judge before you’ve tried it.” He frowns. “Wonho worked hard on that. _And_ if you told him you met the love of your life through his dating app? He’d fucking marry the two of you. Make you two the face of MonBebe.” Hyungwon pauses. “Maybe you could convince him to change the name.”

“But _Hyungwon_ ,” Changkyun pouts in his best impression of their biggest, beefiest, softest baby of a friend. “The ‘o’ is a _heart_.”

 _My type, huh_?

It’s a cute app, really, Changkyun has to give Hoseok props for it. It’s why it’s so popular, after all. Somewhere between the algorithm throwing people at Changkyun that fit with the answers given in the profile test, it’s aesthetic, user-friendly.

A photo catches his attention, and he finds it kind of odd that it does. Not in a bad way, but it’s obviously not a _posed_ picture. Perhaps that’s why. A very, _very_ cute boy (okay, maybe that’s why; Changkyun’s not shallow but he’s also not dumb) in dorky glasses, hair curled and a bright blue and plaid oversized hoodie.

 _My… type. Huh_.

“Okay,” Changkyun nods, holds up the phone so Hyungwon can see the picture. “This one, then.”

Hyungwon frowns. Looks at Changkyun and then back at the phone. “So, Mr. Edgelord likes… fluffy, nerdy hamster?”

Changkyun looks at the picture again. Apt.

He clicks on the profile, just to skim through the questions real quick. This guy--Yoo Kihyun, it says--could be adorable as all heck, but that’s not really what matters, after all.

****

Changkyun laughs a little behind his hand.

Changkyun sends a message. Mind _made_.

 

Hey!!! This is fundamentally kind of awkward!!! :D  
But let’s ignore that and just go with  
Hey! :D

Changkyun scoffs. At least he’s honest. Hyungwon rolls his eyes. “Swallow your words, Im.”

“Never.”

 

“Same,” Changkyun mumbles.

“What was that?”

“Shame,” Changkyun sighs, dramatically. “That romance is dead.”

The phone buzzes a little (if Changkyun jumps a little, that’s neither here nor there) and a bubble appears at the top of the screen.

 

Kihyun  
Hello!

“Changkyun?” a voice asks, and Changkyun immediately recognises the girl.

“Oh!” he says, jumps up with a big smile, phone into his pocket. “You’re early!” She looks a bit apologetic, so Changkyun quickly adds, “That’s good, more time to go through your design. Shall we?”

Kihyun gets a few matches, sometimes. But no one really starts a conversation. Especially, not when they’re this pretty. Definitely, not when they look this edgy. Piercings. Tattoos. _A tattoo artist?_ That’s what the profile says. _23 years old?_ That’s… impossible. He looks older. His face is all mature, even Kihyun looks younger.

Fingers curling inside his Converse, Kihyun slides further over the table and leans his chin down as he keeps staring at the guy’s profile.

It’s a stupid thing to be happy about, right? Kihyun just installed the app because Minhyuk kept bothering him. It actually took a bit of convincing. And now, despite his initial stand, Kihyun is feeling giddy.

He frowns, though. _No way someone like this would hit me up…_ He frowns some more, pouts and feels his chin wrinkle, wiggles the phone in his hands. “Replyyyyyyyyyyy…” he whines. And then rolls his eyes, lets the phone fall flat over the table. “Bleh. I’m lame.”

“No news there,” Minhyuk says as he sits down. _That was a long time for a bathroom break._ “Now pass me the blue folder.”

Kihyun looks up and glares. “Which bathroom did you use? The one at the coffee shop across the street? It’s been twenty minutes!”

“Aw, did you miss me?” Minhyuk puts a hand to his chest. “I’m touched. Going to tell me why you’re particularly lame at the moment? Hand me that folder? No?”

Kihyun glances to the side, sees the white, the grey and they dark grey. He reaches for the dark grey folder and hands it to Minhyuk. “MonBebe. Someone pretty started a chat.” Kihyun turns his phone in his hands. “See? Pretty. Totally catfishing, right?”

Minhyuk whistles low. “Wow. Damn. Think he’ll give me the number of the guy who’s pics he’s using?”

“Yeah,” Kihyun pouts. “Thought so…” He turns the phone back to look at the profile picture. And pouts some more. _Pretty._

“Hey, it might not be! Worth the risk, if that really _is_ him. What did he send you, anyway? Please don’t say dick pic.”

Kihyun taps his way to the chat and turns the phone around for Minhyuk again. “He types cute, too.”

Minhyuk hums. “Maybe he’s just shy..? If he’s catfishing, I mean. Otherwise, congrats on the wedding.”

“As if,” Kihyun mumbles. “Maybe, considering he’s not catfishing, he might be an asshole. Maybe he doesn’t like puppies. Maybe he just wants to…” Kihyun frowns. “Maybe he won’t like me. And if he does then there’s that other issue most people just misunderstand.”

“What, the reason why you handed me the wrong folder? It’s not _that_ big a deal, dude.”

“My childhood disagrees,” Kihyun mutters.

“So does your fashion sense, but honestly, I’m just trying to be a good friend over here. Text him back, dammit!”

Kihyun turns the phone to look at the chat and bites at his lower lip. “I handed you the red folder, didn’t I?” He sighs, types a short reply and clicks send. “I always get the two confused. They’re both dark.”

“I’ll label ‘em,” Minhyuk says, simply, starts flipping through the folder.

“And now I wait.” Kihyun mumbles. “What colour is his hair? Looks light?” He asks, turns the phone to Minhyuk again. Minhyuk looks up, playing with a pen between his fingers.

“Lighting is a bit weird but I’d say really light brown more than blonde, but close. He’s got really pink lips, it’s nice.” Minhyuk spins the pen in a practised way. “Tattoo artist, huh? _Nice_. Get yourself a bad boy, they’re good in bed.”

Kihyun blushes. “It might not even get that far…” He fumbles with his phone.

“It might not even _be_ him,” Minhyuk mumbles. “Does the profile look fake? Like, ‘ _what’s your idea of a date?’_ and the answer is like, ‘ _a romantic stroll down the beach_ ’ or some shit...”

“Hm,” Kihyun leans back on his seat with his phone and scrolls to the questions. “Let’s see…”

Kihyun snorts. “He’s passive aggressive.”

Minhyuk scoffs. “ _Charming_.”

Kihyun kicks Minhyuk under the table. “Am I… Passionate. Cute. Hard-working?”

“Ask your ‘god-like’ self-confidence, Kihyun.”

Kihyun looks at the ceiling. White ceiling. White? Must be white. It’s so bright. “I’m definitely cute, though. Don’t know about passionate.” He nods and looks back down. “Hard-working? Yeah…”

“So, your heart pumps blood and your head has feet,” Kihyun smiles a little. “Good to know.”

Apparently, Im Changkyun didn’t have to google what a love language is.

Kihyun hums. The questions are nice but vague. Everything is vague. He opens the chat and sees his text marked as ‘Read’. He frowns. That was eight minutes ago. He frowns some more and then sighs, locks the phone and shoves it back into the front pocket of his hoodie.

“Whatever,” he mumbles and taps over the table. “Lemme quiz you, Mr. Therapist.” Kihyun grins. “Do I get free consultations with you once you start practicing?”

“Do you think you need it?”

Kihyun blinks, lips thin into a smile. “Doesn’t everyone?”

“Fair enough,” Minhyuk says, looking up to rest his head between his hands, cheeks squishing. “I’m all out of it. I feel like giving you shit about _something_ but all I’ve got in my head is how surprise activates the bilateral inferior frontal gyrus and the bilateral hippocampus. And since the hippocampus is where you store memory, generally speaking, and the element of surprise is associated with experiencing something that you don’t remember or do not expect, it can either make you feel good by association with past experiences that might or might not relate with the current one. Or it might make you feel really bad.”

“Ooooooh,” Kihyun claps slowly. “Word vomit.”

“My problem! Is that there are many localized diseases that can influence changes in emotions. And apparently I have to memorize them. All of them.”

“You decided to study psychology, so now you have to--surprise, surprise--study psychology.”

“My amygdala is twitching.”

“I’ll quiz you,” Kihyun smiles, “And then you can word vomit all over me.”

The first ‘luxury item’ Changkyun had bought himself when he had become all ‘adult’ and had to ‘support’ himself and act ‘responsible’, was a really nice bed. It’s big, soft but not too soft, with a duck down duvet that always hugs around him when he lies down.

Like now. So he takes full responsibility for the soft _'aaaah’_ that escapes him.

Shower; check. Food; eaten. Pants; off. He turns his PS4 on to navigate to Netflix, pick whatever show his ‘currently watching’ list keeps reminding him of, and pats around the bed for his phone. It was here a second ago.

A second ago, which is when Changkyun would like to say he saw Kihyun’s message for the first time, but alas.

 

I’M SO SORRY!!!! (See-No-Evil Monkey )(See-No-Evil Monkey )(See-No-Evil Monkey )  
I had a client come in a bit early and had to just vanish for a while  
Talk about a bad first impression  
Seriously, sorry  
Kihyun  
A client  
For a tattoo?  
I hope so (Astonished Face )  
It’d be awkward if they were there for a haircut  
Kihyun  
Why?  
Because you’re not good at hairstyling or  
Better at DRAWING hair, I’m afraid  
In any case, hiiiiiiiii  
Kihyun  
Hello!!!  
Can you tell I’ve never done this before?  
And if not, ignore the above question (Upside-Down Face )  
Kihyun  
Maybe?  
People usually just go  
Hey  
How are you  
What are you up to  
You’re pretty  
And it kinda always goes like that  
So I’m not supposed to call you pretty?  
I don’t like lying, you know  
Kihyun  
You think I’m pretty??????????  
lol yeah you’re adorable and I have EYES  
Kihyun  
Ah, yes. Eyes.  
I have those too.  
But what I mean is  
You didn’t text me by mistake?  
Uhm, no?  
Your profile pic is so cute I couldn’t help myself  
Kihyun  
Oh boy  
Okay  
You’re very pretty which is why my friend and I thought  
That you couldn’t possibly have texted me  
You called me pretty and potentially shallow at the same time  
O u c h i e  
Kihyun  
No!!!!!!!!!!!  
We just thought you were catfishing!!!!  
Oh? LMAO  
What made you think I’m not, then?  
Past tense ‘thought’ and all  
Kihyun  
Oh  
Nothing  
Are you?????  
Although you wouldn’t tell me if you were… hm.  
You could be catfishing me too!!!  
Kihyun  
What???? You texted me first!  
Yeah but your whole account could just be full of pics of some cute kpop guy idk  
Kihyun  
Well some of those pics are old but they’re definitely me  
  
[](https://i.pinimg.com/564x/1e/cb/61/1ecb61f6a19d536cc25c765b3f4f2a54.jpg)  
See? Proof. Is me  
Kihyun  
You could have that stored and just  
Make up the conversation as you go and  
You know  
Alright, then, fair!  
I took it right now, too, but ALRIGHT  
Pose me  
Kihyun  
Okay hmmmmm  
BED WITH PEACE SIGN  
one or two? (Smiling Face With Smiling Eyes )  
Kihyun  
You can do two????  
fuck ye  
[](https://i.pinimg.com/564x/1e/cb/61/1ecb61f6a19d536cc25c765b3f4f2a54.jpg)  
  
Kihyun  
How are you… doing that…  
put the phone camera on a timer and then hold it up with your feet lol  
Kihyun  
Oh  
I’d never thought about that  
I’m an innovator, truly  
So you believe me now???  
Kihyun  
Maybe  
Could still be a trick  
You don’t look as edgy as I thought you’d be though  
honestly I’m just flattered you think I’m attractive enough to be used to catfish someone  
Kihyun  
As long as you’re not a pervert  
I don’t mind if you’re catfishing  
A pervert, he says  
I’m not lol  
Although I suppose that’s what a pervert would say…  
We’re starting off on the right foot here aren’t we??? whelp  
Kihyun  
Well  
This is one of the longest conversations I’ve had in months on this app  
So… maybe?  
Cute  
How do I know you’re not catfishing?  
Kihyun  
I guess you’ll just have to trust the word of a stranger  
I suppose that’s the whole point of this app…  
I gotta ask, though  
Why are you on this site?  
I got into a mild argument with a friend earlier today about Technology Killing Romance  
Kihyun  
Oh  
What are your thoughts on that?  
Show me yours I’ll show you mine?  
AHAHAHAHA  
Oh but I’M not supposed to be a pervert, alright  
Jk but idk???  
I joined as a favour to a friend  
I think it’s a nice way for shy people to connect without the social pressures of having to flirt face to face and all that?  
But I guess I’m a bit old fashioned?  
Stranger dropping his books, I help him pick it up, a brush of hands, yadda yadda  
Kihyun  
That’s cute  
Well  
I’m here because my best friend said I needed to meet new people  
Which I do, I just can’t really get past the professional phase  
He thought this would help  
Since it’s different? I don’t know  
I went on a date with someone once  
Someone I met here  
But it was just……………… bleh  
No spark?  
Kihyun  
It’s just  
This is all nice and pretty words  
But there’s things you can only pick on if you meet the person  
Mannerisms and so on? The way they look at things or at you  
I was really excited!!! But then I met them and it kinda died out  
Which I guess is the risk you take?  
But yeah  
Mm I hadn’t really thought of that…  
True enough, though, I’m usually drawn to someone because of things like  
Their laugh, the way they smile, things like that  
Doesn’t really translate over into an app  
Kihyun  
So a romantic?  
lol I thought that was obvious  
Kihyun  
Still! I guess if it doesn’t work out in the romantic way  
It’s always nice to stay friends!!!  
So it’s kind of a win win  
Unless they’re crazy and start stalking you  
Yikes  
You’re not going to stalk me are you? (Astonished Face )  
Kihyun  
What a waste of my time  
is it bad that i’m mildly offended rn hahahaha  
Kihyun  
You don’t even know me  
Don’t take me too seriously, really  
What do I call you btw???  
...my name…?  
What are the options here???  
Kihyun  
Changkyun then?  
I’m asking because sometimes people go  
“PLS CALL ME THIS INSTEAD”  
So…  
christ yeah I have a friend like that  
His name is Hoseok but he INSISTS people call him Wonho  
But nah I’m good with Changkyun  
Friends sometimes call me Kyun  
Kihyun  
Changkyun  
Kyun  
Kyunie  
There  
Settled  
You’re calling me Kyunie?  
That’s cute  
Does that mean I can call you Ki?  
Kihyun  
You’re younger than me  
But yeah sure  
Ki-hyung, then  
Kihyun  
Well, if it’s just me  
Ki is fine  
Alright~ just trying to have manners  
Saw on your profile you like that lol  
Not that I don’t have manners I’m just ajsdgjh YOU KNOW  
Kihyun  
Aaaah  
Yes but that’s like the usual?  
Nowadays people walk around looking like  
:<<<<<<<<<<<  
And you go  
“Hello!”  
And they go  
:<<<<<<<<<<<  
That pisses me off.  
It’s no one’s business if we’re having a bad day  
Besides, smiling helps!!  
Mmm, true  
I work with people all the time so I guess I’m just kind of used to being nice  
Despite whatever’s going on in my life  
Kihyun  
Same  
Kind of  
I don’t exactly work with people  
But it’s for the people  
Soooooooo  
Your profile said you’re a singer??  
Kihyun  
Cabaret singer!!!  
WOOOOH that’s really cool!!! I’ve never been to a cabaret!  
Kihyun  
Well  
If it turns out you’re not catfishing  
Maybe I’ll invite you one night!  
That would be great! I love experiencing new things  
Just didn’t really consider this before but hells yeah  
Kihyun  
Maybe I’ll get a tattoo!  
Does it hurt?  
You don’t have any tattoos at all? Huh, cool  
It does, I guess? I’ve had worse cat scratches  
Depends on what kind of needle and how long it’ll take blah blah blah  
At best, it’s just uncomfortable  
Bearable tho  
Kind of addicting >>  
Kihyun  
I saw the ones on your profile  
They seem pretty  
If you don’t mind me asking  
Was this like something you’ve always wanted to do?  
Or did you simply fall into it???  
Mm, for a while I didn’t really know what I wanted to do?  
My dad’s a scientist so I thought about going into that field  
Got accepted into University and all that  
Because people were always like “you’ll never make a living from doing art”  
Which was a massive bummer, you know? Like shit, this is what I love doing and you’re telling me I can’t?  
And after a few months of studies, a friend of mine (then boyfriend) got a tattoo and I went with  
And it was like BAM y’know?  
I could do what I love and touch other people’s lives forever  
Like, even if I died tomorrow, there would be people walking around with my art on them  
It just clicked and now I have a parlor with said friend  
Sometimes life works out like that, I guess  
Kihyun  
That’s a lot  
Wow  
It’s cool though  
I’m glad you found what you wanted to do!!!  
hah, thank you  
I assume singing is what you wanted to do…?  
Kihyun  
Yep!  
Since I was little  
Had the same problem though  
I kept hearing I couldn’t make a living out of it  
But I’m stubborn sooooooooo I just wanted to prove them all wrong  
And now I have a steady job that I can expand on if I ever want to  
Ugh I love that  
Sorry I just  
DO WHAT YOU LOVE!!!  
I’d run around with that on a big ass sign tbh so it’s always great to hear that someone is  
Kihyun  
Yep  
Agreed  
So that’s what you meant when in the questions you said you were working with your boyfriend  
Sorry  
Ex boyfriend  
LOL yeah it’s still so fucking odd to me to think we ever dated  
He’s like a brother to me  
Dunno what the hell I was thinkin  
Er, I can stop swearing if you don’t like it  
Kihyun  
No! It’s fine!!!  
Just be yourself  
phew, that would have a been a tough one  
Kihyun  
So you dated your brother huh?  
Is that what you’re into?  
HDSGKDJFG SHUT UP NOT LIKE THAT AHAHA  
Look at him!!!  
  
He’s a baby!!!!!  
[](https://data.whicdn.com/images/319622696/large.jpg)  
Kihyun  
Aw but you two look cute!!!  
He’s pretty too...  
terrible flirting strategy, Ki  
Kihyun  
Who says I’m trying to flirt with you????  
Juuuuuust saying  
And yeah, sure, he’s pretty, it’s annoying  
It makes him get away with falLING ASLEEP ANYWHERE HE WANTS  
Kihyun  
I assume that’s what happened  
In the picture?  
yep, that was in line at the college registration offices lol  
He’s got a boyfriend now so you don’t have to worry  
If you were worried???  
Yikes @ me  
Kihyun  
Wasn’t  
You wound me  
Do you really not have any exes?  
I’m shocked cos you’re cute not cos it’s lame not to have any exes  
Kihyun  
Weeeeeell  
No I don’t have any exes  
Either because that’s not what they come looking for  
Or because we just don’t click  
Besides  
I’m fine on my own so I won’t just settle for someone unless I actually like them  
As in  
I don’t get tired of them after a while  
The opposite of love is indifference, after all  
Kihyun  
Ah  
But I have experience if that’s what you’re wondering…  
I wasn’t??? But lol good to know??????  
Kihyun  
Hm  
Sometimes people like to assume strange things  
That’s all  
Assume you’re a virgin, you mean..?  
Kihyun  
I’m not  
But yes  
I meant I am not a virgin  
…  
Now I’m feeling embarrassed…  
lol it doesn’t matter either way so don’t worry  
I’m not a virgin either! High five!!!  
Kihyun  
Yaaay  
Said with the least excited voice in the world  
Because it would be fine if we were  
Or I was  
I just don’t like assumptions that’s all  
Well you did assume I’d look  
What was the word  
“edgier”  
Kihyun  
But that’s different!!!!!!!  
Or maybe it isn’t…  
Sorry  
I just got defensive  
Is it something you have to defend a lot…?  
Kihyun  
Kind ooooooof  
But enough about that!  
lmao  
Isn’t it good to get it out of the way??  
I should be listing you all my flaws and if there’s a dealbreaker  
Bam, time saved  
Kihyun  
No  
It’s kinda better to just find out as time goes?  
Or is that just me…  
I was just kidding :P  
But anyway I’m not keeping you from anything am I?  
I mean, I’m just in bed watching TV, hardly busy but  
Kihyun  
I have work in a bit  
But it’s okay  
Oh! Okay no, I won't bother you then  
We’ll talk again tomorrow..?  
Kihyun  
If you want  
I have a morning part-time but I’m free during the afternoons  
Talk then, Ki-hyung  
Kihyun  
Bye bye!!!

“There we go,” Changkyun says, standing up and stretching a little, smiling wide. It’s been hours, but he’s done. And honestly, it looks _great_. Watercolour is always tricky, but Changkyun’s not known for it for no reason. “This isn’t your first tattoo, so I’m sure you know what I’m going to say.”

The girl laughs, holding up the side of her shirt for Changkyun to carefully cover it in dermalize. “Don’t get it wet, cream three times a day after this is off, blah blah blah.”

“Aish, take it seriously, will you?”

“I am!” she laughs and Hyungwon walks in to roll his eyes.

“Are you flirting with the customers again?”

Changkyun gasps. “Flirting?” He looks at the girl. “Hana-sshi, do you think I’m flirting with you?”

Hana gasps a little, too, then. “Scandalous, Changkyun.”

Changkyun just laughs and rolls his eyes, motions for her to let her shirt down. “You’ll send me a picture once it’s healed again?”

“I do love being on your instagram, so sure.”

“Thanks, Hana,” he smiles as she gathers her things to walk out.

“I don’t like this atmosphere,” Hyungwon mumbles, eyes narrowed as he looks around. “You’re five percent more cheerful than usual and it’s starting to stick to the walls.”

“Can’t I just have a nice day?” Changkyun pouts, cleaning up his station as he talks. “Gloomy, much?”

“Right,” Hyungwon rolls his eyes, places a few letters on top of the small table and makes to walk to the counter. “Your biggest fans wrote to you. The government. Taxes. It’s great.” He quickly puts a smile on the moment he’s almost out the door and directs his stare to Hana.

“The true saesangs,” Changkyun sighs to himself. He hasn’t received any other messages. To be fair, they hadn’t said who would message who first…

 

you’d think, as a tattoo artist, I would see more butts  
BUT ALAS  
*BUTT ALAS  
Kihyun  
What about boobies?

Changkyun laughs, behind his hand, spins a little on his chair.

 

I just got six hours of solid side-boob so I suppose it’s okay  
Kihyun  
Girl boob  
Or man boob  
Girl boob  
Kihyun  
Good for you then!  
:< want man boob too  
Kihyun  
Squish

“I love having intellectual, deep conversation with people,” Changkyun says, leaning against the counter as he waves Hana out.

“Is that what’s happening?” Hyungwon asks, back turned as he stuff the cash inside the small bright pink wallet.

“Maybe. Been talking to that guy on your boyf’s site. It’s not _sucked_ so, congrats.”

“Ohoh?” Hyungwon looks over his shoulder with a little smile. “Now, that’s kinda unexpected. What’s he like, so far?”

“Cute,” Changkyun says, hand on his chin. “Really cute.”

 

great conversation, I appreciate your input  
Kihyun  
You have something against the squish????  
Never. Lov da squish

Changkyun laughs a little, coughs when Hyungwon glances at him.

 

Kihyun  
Good to know!  
How’s your day going??  
Great so far!  
I’m wondering if I should ask my coworker why he has a bright pink wallet but I don’t want him to stop having a bright pink wallet so I won’t  
Kihyun  
Is having a bright pink wallet a bad thing?  
Nah, it’s just funny, considering people think tattoo artists are all edgy and blah blah blah and yet I have a cotton candy man sitting at the front desk  
Kihyun  
Guilty as charged…  
I’m… cheering apparently  
My best friend has an exam coming and he’s been studying  
He said “come quiz me”  
And then brought me bowling…  
aaaah now I’m jealous I’m at work I wanna be bowling!!!!  
Kihyun  
Are you good???  
At bowling I mean  
I think I suck a little…  
there’s a joke there…  
But meh, I’m alright  
I don’t really care it’s FUN  
Kihyun  
A joke?  
Oh!!!!!!!!!!  
How did I miss that  
Damn  
maybe you were too busy suckin a little  
Kihyun  
Maybe I was  
At a bowling alley? Wild  
Kihyun  
For a moment I registered “blowing” and was confused  
You’re influencing my brain now, Kyunie  
A BLOWING ALLEY  
I’M LAUGHING

He is. “We’re making dick jokes, Hyungwon! Dick jokes!”

Hyungwon makes a face. “I guess that counts as something?”

 

Kihyun  
Also  
Uh  
My friend says you’re pretty  
He watched me type that  
Just to make sure I did…  
awwwww thank you random stranger’s random stranger friend <3  
Kihyun  
He also thinks you’re catfishing  
And is asking if you have the number of the guy in your pics  
DID YOU SHOW HIM THE PEACE SIGNS??? I’M A REAL BOY  
Kihyun  
He says you might have manipulated me into picking the two peace signs  
Because it’s a feat  
Sorry, he’s like that…  
Damn, suspicious  
I like it  
QUESTION EVERYTHING  
Still not sure you’re not a catfish but you don’t see me bitchin about it  
Kihyun  
Fair  
Which reminds me…  
[](https://i.pinimg.com/564x/03/2a/b0/032ab09213eb23dfe540641f3b0beda3.jpg)  
Oops, blurry  
:OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO  
Kihyun  
[](https://i.pinimg.com/564x/bf/60/52/bf6052bbbb3348bc0cee5f290fbf5d9a.jpg)  
Not blurry anymore  
still pretty tho

“Ugh, I’m gay,” Changkyun grumbles to himself, forehead on the counter.

“I’m glad, it would be problematic if you weren’t,” Hyungwon mumbles, leans closer to looks at Changkyun’s phone. “Oh… selcas… Nice.”

 

Kihyun  
Thank you!!!!!  
UGH NOW I’M JUST  
HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO KEEP MY COMPOSURE   
WHEN U BE LOOKIN SO CUTE

“Stop me,” Changkyun whines.

“From?” Hyungwon questions.

“Self-sabotage…” Changkyun pouts. “I’m allowed to flirt, right? This is a dating app!”

“Yes, you are,” Hyungwon chuckles, “Yes, you are.”

 

Kihyun  
Thank you  
Again  
It’s just bowling though  
So…  
Nothing fancy  
doesn’t need to be fancy  
;;;; how dare you give me a type  
Kihyun  
What??????  
I always said I didn’t have a type!!!!  
And then you!!!!  
And I!!!  
I’m fine anyway ignore me  
HOW ARE YOU?  
Kihyun  
Good!!!  
Great!!!!  
Thanks for asking  
And thank you  
That’s like the biggest compliment I’ve ever received  
Glad I could do that, then, I guess?? Hah  
I just asked my friend if it’s okay to FLIRT  
On a DATING APP  
WHO AM I  
Kihyun  
Well  
You could just trying to be friendly??  
That happens  
But yeah it’s okay to flirt…  
oh good cos I got THINGS TO SAY  
Kihyun  
Oh????  
Go on then  
you’re really cute and it’s ;;;;  
Idk if that’s flirting or just pointing out facts but here we are  
Kihyun  
Hm  
Are you busy tonight?  
As in  
Text free  
Can you text?  
are you flustered rn? That’s a lot of texts lol  
Kihyun  
Just answer!!!!!!!!!  
ahahaha cute  
Yeah, I am  
Kihyun  
Then remind me to show you something  
Later  
the mind REELS  
Kihyun  
: )  
In the meantime  
I’m cheering  
Also melting down the sofa  
It’s great  
Will be on the floor in a few  
I’ll keep you posted  
am I just gonna have to start every text with ‘cute’ from now on?  
Cos like  
CUTE  
Kihyun  
The floor is great  
And well  
Idc if you’re catfishing  
You’re making me smile  
That’s good for the soul  
I’ll keep you in my pocket

“Cute,” Changkyun says, out loud, this time.

“When will this escalate to an actual meeting and end up with you two realizing you hate each other?” Hyungwon scoffs. “Sorry, go on with the gooey thing you’ve got going.”

Changkyun rolls his eyes. “Shut up. Why would we _hate_ each other, anyway?”

“Who knows,” Hyungwon shrugs, “Maybe he’s too tall. Or too short. Or smells bad.”

 

friend is joking that we’ll meet   
and end up hating each other :o  
Are you short?  
Tall?  
Smelly?   
Apparently these things are super important  
Tbh that last one is   
but I’m not telling him that  
Kihyun  
I’m sensitive to smells  
So no I don’t smell bad  
I also don’t bathe in perfume but  
Smelling good is fun!  
Like perfumes  
Perfumes are fun!  
And I’m 174cm  
ah, I’m 175cm!  
We’re practically the same height  
Yeah, I use perfume, too  
Again, I work with people so  
And I also like smelling nice!  
Glad we got that sorted out lmao  
Kihyun  
Why  
Plan on sniffing me any time soon?  
don’t make me say it...  
Kihyun  
Say what  
...  
I like cuddling  
Kihyun  
You wanna cuddle with me then?  
WELL  
If that were to happen  
It’s nice to know that  
You smell nice  
Kihyun  
I like cuddles too  
But don’t tell anyone!!!!  
Are you a cat person or a dog person?  
I have a doggo :3  
But I like cats too!!!  
You??  
Kihyun  
Dogs!!!!!!  
Omg you have a dog?????  
Can I see it??????  
Please!!!!!!  
ahaha yeah just gimme a sec  
[](https://i.imgur.com/XG53HjY.jpg)  
Like father, like daughter  
[](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DfpA3P5VMAARvQD.jpg)  
Kihyun  
It’s a fluffy one????  
Why are you two making the exact same face   
omg!!!  
It’s so cute!  
[](https://i.imgur.com/XG53HjY.jpg)  
My friend took this!   
Here you can see the floof indeed  
I love her ;;;;;  
Thank you  
Kihyun  
Asdfghjkl  
Cute!!!  
What’s her name???  
Emma :3  
I swear, it feels like I’m a proud mom showing you my kids  
Do you have a kiddo?  
Kihyun  
My parents do  
[](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/71/cb/8c/71cb8c38c8fc3c6752abffabc7cebdfc.jpg)  
[](https://66.media.tumblr.com/8510ffaee28d8be3166644cfc2f758c7/tumblr_omav10ayzC1seygdjo4_250.gif)  
I miss her sometimes :<   
FLOOFS  
AW YOU TWO LOOK SO CUTE I’M DYING

“I’m not gonna make it ‘till thirty at this rate…”

Hyungwon makes a face, double chin activated. “What?”

“I _mean_ ,” Changkyun says, poking at the chin. “I like him. Not _like_ like, it’s barely been twenty four hours but… He’s cute. And nice. And likes dogs, what’s not to like.”

“Maybe he snores?” Hyungwon says, shakes his head.

 

Kihyun  
Those are from a few months ago  
I haven’t seen her in a while  
Will you let me meet your dog????  
Someday???  
I swear you’re more excited about the prospect of meeting my dog than you are of meeting me  
I CAN’T BLAME YOU  
Obviously though yeah  
Kihyun  
You’re obviously the bonus  
I’m on this app to meet dogs  
OBVIOUSLY  
omg now there’s an idea  
MonDoggo  
Kihyun  
For owners to sign up their doggos  
And then they make dog meetings!!!!!!  
I gotta tell Hoseok about this  
lol oh yeah I never mentioned  
The reason I have this app?   
The friend who talked me into making an account?  
Idiot who made this app  
Yes, I’m bragging  
[hair flip]  
Kihyun  
What?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?  
FOR REAL???  
YOU’RE FRIENDS WITH AN ULZZANG AND ALSO THE GUY WHO MADE THE APP?  
google ‘Lee Hoseok’ real quick  
Lmfao did you just call Hyungwon an ulzzang???????  
Kihyun  
He’s gotta be he’s pretty…  
Is he tall?  
I’m googling  
sigh yeah he’s tall  
He has an instagram. Has modelled a few times  
I try to not let it get into his head  
Kihyun  
Well it’s getting into my head!  
lmfao why???  
Kihyun  
I suddenly feel like a potato  
Lee Hoseok is…  
WHAT IS THIS MAN????  
mood  
[](http://pm1.narvii.com/6801/577d9d1224a21c45c30c0d56f75c0546a0338ce9v2_00.jpg)  
See? Me no lie  
He’s a baby, pay him no heed  
And… actually used to be an ullzzang sigh  
There’s no living with these people  
Kihyun  
He’s pretty…  
Are all your friends this pretty?????  
well, Jooheon doesn’t think he’s pretty but he’s an idiot, I know he is  
ALSO WHAT IS THIS ABOUT THINKING YOU’RE A POTATO?????????  
TAKE THAT BACK  
Kihyun  
Who’s Jooheon?  
a friend  
I’ll find a pic in a sec  
You probably think I collect them like pokemon but it’s like  
Grew up, kinda, with Hyungwon  
Hyungwon started dating Hoseok  
Hoseok was friends with Jooheon  
And now we’re like this lil gang I guess lmao  
Kihyun  
I have two friends  
Now I feel outnumbered  
lol??? Nah  
And besides  
If we’re friends, they’re your friends, too  
Kihyun  
We’ll have to see about that  
I just have Minhyuk, my best friend  
Shownu, the didn’t click on that date friend  
oh? You’re still friends with him? That’s cool  
Also, found a pic  
[](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dx1UBnJU0AA_-aC.jpg)  
Kihyun  
IS HE A CELEBRITY????????  
ahahahah! Not really? In his own circles, kinda  
Underground rapper. It’s why he looks so cool  
In that pic we were on our way to a show  
But nah he’s a baby  
Everyone I’m friends with are BABIES  
Ps: totally expecting pictures of your friends come on man we’re SHARING  
Kihyun  
Okayyyyy  
So…  
Minhyuk  
[](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dx7KtBfUUAIo-yZ.jpg)  
why y’all dressed like you’re about to rob smthn  
Kihyun  
It was cold!!!!!!  
This is Shownu  
[](https://i.pinimg.com/564x/25/46/18/254618d8376027b4dafc6595db2336d8.jpg)  
holy shit a MAN  
On the seventh day god created MAN  
AND THIS WAS HE  
Sorry, i’m gay  
Kihyun  
Hi  
I’m Kihyun  
dad jokes??? really??????  
Kihyun  
It’s Shownu’s influence  
But yes we stayed friends  
We’re good friends  
Not boyfriend material  
why didn’t you get all up on that? If I can ask  
From a curious, gay point of view  
Kihyun  
Hmmmmmmmmmmmm  
Idk? It was just…  
We talked and all I felt was   
“Ah, friend” you know?  
He felt the same way  
He clicked a lot better with Minhyuk  
But then again  
Everyone clicks with Minhyuk  
are they dating, then?  
Kihyun  
Were  
Not anymore  
I hate that the only relationship we seem to have in our joint lives  
Is fuckin Hyungwon and Hoseok  
They live and breathe to torture me and now they’re getting away with it too  
Kihyun  
Can I ask why it didn’t work out with you and Hyungwon?  
Wait  
I just did...  
har har  
Might be a bit TMI but honestly?  
There was no chemistry? It was comfortable but  
Idk sex wasn't all that great  
NOT THAT THAT’S THE MOST IMPORTANT THING  
But better as friends tbh  
Kihyun  
Isn’t it?  
I mean  
Not the most important thing but if you’re sexually active and so on  
Shouldn’t you be able to enjoy it?  
well, yeah, obviously  
But I also know that if I really loved someone and they were  
Idk asexual and I’m not  
I’d still date them?  
If that makes sense  
Kihyun  
I guess?  
Never dated anyone like that…  
I’VE NEVER DATED ANYONE  
WHAT AM I EVEN SAYING LOL  
AHAHAHAH  
We’re talking about sex again, did you notice  
Kihyun  
You brought it up  
This time  
tbh now I have to hear about how good Hoseok is in bed and honestly I’m happy for the man but like  
Kjdshgkdjfhgkjh ENOUGH  
Kihyun  
I bet your friend brags to spite you  
it’s MEAN  
Just cos we didn’t have good sex doesn’t mean I’m bad in bed, the asshole  
Kihyun  
Ah yes  
It’s usually about the asshole  
KIHYUNJSDGHDFU  
AHAHA  
Now THAT is a conversation for a much, much later date  
Kihyun  
Is it?  
what, am I supposed to ask you if you’re a top or a bottom?  
They missed that bit on the questionnaire  
Kihyun  
What is… what was it  
YOUR DARKCORE PERSONALITY  
ARE YOU A DOM OR A SUB  
DO YOU TOP OR BOTTOM  
Idk  
That?  
omg what is a darkcore personality I’m scared I feel yelled at  
Kihyun  
Google “darkcore personality test”  
Minhyuk made me do it  
well I don’t have a client booked for a bit so lemme see  
Kihyun  
Keep me updated  
Also  
Personally?  
I like the Nintendo Switch  
After that Wii business?  
Much better  
[squints] is this… a switch joke?  
Also these questions are fucked up man  
Kihyun  
I know  
I guess “darkcore” stands for something  
WHY AM I BEING JUDGED BY AN ALGORITHM DESIGNED TO SEE ME IN A BAD LIGHT  
[](https://i.imgur.com/ssGbkSC.png)  
grumble grumble  
EGOISM AND NARCISSISM??? excuse??? I HAVE SELF WORTH  
Kihyun  
Oh!  
You beat me on Egoism!  
And Narcissism!!!!  
I beat you on Self-interest  
We’re both just 10% on the Psychopathy column  
Does that mean we’re compatible?  
Idk how these things work  
lol MMM maybe??  
Hoseok did design this MonBebe thing so compatible people will meet  
Tbh I know more about star signs and mbti than this stuff  
Kihyun  
What’s your sign?  
Ah, flashbacks!!!  
Aquarius  
You? If we’re compatible you’ll probably say  
Scorpio or Sagittarius  
Kihyun  
I’m a Scorpio  
On the blink of change into Sagittarius but Scorpio  
:oooooo cooooooooool I like Scorpios  
Kihyun  
Minhyuk is a Scorpio, too!  
yikes you two probably bicker like nobody’s business  
Kihyun  
So you’ve met us  
AHAHAHA seriously? Cool  
Do you know your MBTI???  
Kihyun  
Minhyuk studies Psychology sooooo  
Obviously he force feeds me personality tests  
ENFJ  
I had to ask him lol  
I’d forgotten  
you had to ask google for the love languages too  
That’s cute  
Nah I just like tests idk why  
I’m an INTJ btw  
Minhyuk can probably explain what that means  
Kihyun  
He says he likes you already even though you’re catfishing  
really not going to let that go is he?  
Like an INTJ would catfish pfff  
Kihyun  
I wouldn’t know…  
So  
Aquarius was it?  
I guess I’ll be looking for that whenever those  
“Signs doing X” posts show up  
those are fun lmao  
the last one I saw told Hyungwon to get a soul  
I died laughing so YEP  
Also, I am the home of memes, so do not hesitate  
Kihyun  
Oh!!!!  
I guess we’re friends already, then!  
Wasn’t that obvious?  
I’ve never texted this much in my life  
Kihyun  
Awwww  
Why does that make me happy?  
cos it means there must be a reason for it  
Me texting you, I mean  
Kihyun  
Because you thought I was cute  
That’s past tense  
Try again  
Kihyun  
Because you think I’m cute  
Yes, I do  
Kihyun  
I know I am  
That would be the egoism speaking ahahaha  
Kihyun  
Self-awareness  
and just like that, cute turns into attractive  
Kihyun  
And on that note  
I gotta go   
Gotta run home, take a shower and get ready for work  
Enjoy!!!  


Changkyun smiles to himself as he pockets his phone, sits down to sketch something, suddenly really, _really_ wanting the workday to end.

 

 

Kihyun  
Good night!!!!!!  
Promised I’d text  
Hope that’s okay

Changkyun jumps a little, phone vibrating on his lap where he drops the playstation controller.

 

for a second I thought you were saying goodnight as in  
Sleeping  
Like I don’t only sleep at 1am every night, damn  
Hewwo, tho!!! How are you??  
And of course it’s okay  
Kihyun  
Okay!!!!!  
I’m okay  
You?  
I’m playing Last of Us  
my dog is sleeping next to me all soft and cute  
so yeah, I’m great  
you???  
Kihyun  
I just wrapped up for today  
Which is why I said I’d text  
Did you have fun? :3  
Kihyun  
Always do!  
Got tipped  
So that’s always a mood boost!  
ah, reminds me of my times as a stripper~  
Kihyun  
What  
danced exclusively to Careless Whisper  
Good times  
Kihyun  
I’m…  
Okay lmao  
Yes I guess you could say that then  
I do it dressed though  
I was joking but good to know you wouldn’t care :D  
Kihyun  
I would probably make a face  
I know I did  
But you do you, Kyunie  


_Kyunie_. Changkyun wiggles a little, and Emma whines. “Sorry, baby,” he laughs with a little pat to the dog.

 

I only do private strip shows nowadays  
To myself  
When I get home  
And take my pants off after a long day  
Good shit  
Kihyun  
I can get behind that  
The…  
Wait  
Words are going to do their thing  
OHMYGOD  
AAHSAFDGAHAHAHAH  
Kihyun  
Forget I said anything  
ANYWAY  
That’s not why I texted!!!!  
yeah!!! show me the thing!!!!  
The very vague thing you said you’d show me  
that I should remind you about  
Kihyun  
It’s not exactly a THING but yes  
[](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DvQ6KIDUUAE8A66.jpg)  


“ _What the fuck_ ,” Changkyun says to an empty room, glad for the fact that nobody could see him gaping at his phone. “What the fuck?”

 

so  
Okay  
UHM!!!!  
WOW  
Kihyun  
Everyone gets stuck on “really cute”  
But if I do “really cute” for work then they’ll throw tomatoes at me  
It’s nice though  
I get to have a persona!!!  
It’s good to step out of the usual shoes  
Changkyun.exe has stopped working  
Reboot in 3  
2  
YOU LOOK GOOD!!!  
Seriously damn no wonder you got tipped  
Kihyun  
Pretty sure it has something to do with my voice too  
But thank you!  
I can’t think about that rn or I’ll have another system error  
Kihyun  
Pervert  
SAYS THE ONE WITH A RED CHOKER  
And smoldering at the camera or whatever the fuck  
This isn’t my fault!!!!!!  
Kihyun  
Am I still your type then?  
  
[](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/2f/1d/db/2f1ddb606c5d9aaeafb5f3a34c23428d.jpg)  
Kihyun  
Well  
Good to know  
That was all!!!!  
  
[](https://media.giphy.com/media/ewHSMEx2TtEo8/200.gif)  
You @ me  
Kihyun  
Pretty sure this works both ways though  
I’ll have to go look for some sexy retaliation selca or smthn this ain’t fair  
Kihyun  
It became a competition  
Great  
Hit me with it  
Okay no  
How do you UNSEND  
you don’t, you just take responsibility  
And I take screenshots  
Kihyun  
You mean  
Own up to it?  
If you want  
LKSJDGKDSJ I FOUND IT  
THE SEXIEST PICTURE OF ME THAT I HAVE  
ARE YOU READY?  
Kihyun  
Is it natural of me to be slightly scared with your enthusiasm?  
lmao YEAH MAYBE  
Okay here we go  
Are you ready??? Are you SURE??  
Kihyun  
You’re going to send me a meme aren’t you  
TYFGHJKL  
  
[](https://i.imgur.com/NgOvLvL.jpg)  
Feast yer eyes  
Kihyun  
That’s like  
A whole  
“Come here” board  
Like you could make it an add  
About chocolate  
For Dessert, How About A Bite of This?  
Lmao idk it just reminds me of this pic for some reason so it makes me laugh  
  
[](https://1funny.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/seductive-cat.jpg)  
Kihyun  
Except my brain doesn’t get creative with the cat  
But I get what you mean  
...was that  
A flirtation?  
I’m taking that as a flirtation  
Kihyun  
Maybe it was  
Maybe it wasn’t  
Tune in later for more ambiguity!  
ah, tsundere?  
siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh  
Kihyun  
I’m not a tsundere!  
Good  
Might be one of the reasons I never saw Hyungwon in a romantic way?  
Too little affection tbh  
Kihyun  
Oh  
Well I wouldn’t really know  
But  
Maybe you’ll get to tell me!  
If you’re affectionate??  
Kihyun  
Yeah  
??????  
Idk  
I don’t think I’m a rock  
But Idk  
You had touch as your love language so  
And you’ve said you like cuddles!  
Kihyun  
I do!!  
And kisses!  
Don’t tell anyone though  
I don’t hear about kisses and tell  
Hey uhm  
Feel free to say no but  
Would you be entirely opposed to me asking you out on a date…?  
Kihyun  
Oh?  
Already?  
Sure!  
When????  
Already? Am I moving too fast…?  
Kihyun  
NONONONONO  
Back to this date business  
???  
cute  
Well………  
Valentine’s Day is right around the corner  
if you wanna take advantage of all those couples specials that’ll be floating around?  
Kihyun  
I’ll be floating around!  
I’ve never had a date on Valentine’s day!!!!  
You sure though???  
about the date of the date or the date?  
Kihyun  
The date  
You’re cute, funny, nice, send random sexy selcas just to fuck with me  
Of course I’m sure  
Kihyun  
Well  
I hadn’t gotten there yet  
But  
Sure!  
I’m in  
And if you’re catfishing then well  
Maybe I’ll still find you cute  
you find me cute? I’m blushing  
Honest to god pink over here  
Kihyun  
I like your face  
You remind of of those dogs  
Shibas  
They’re cute  
woof, then!!!  
  
[](https://i.pinimg.com/564x/1d/38/b5/1d38b59e9ae2fecd0f1a6257023f1a15.jpg)  
Icb i’m blushing @ someone comparing me to a dog  
Kihyun  
Cheeks and nose!  
Okay  
So… Valentine’s?  
Where do we meet  
And time  
At what time?  
mmmmmmmmm depends  
What do you wanna do????  
I was thinking  
Arcade? :D that could be a lot of fun  
Kihyun  
Arcade???? I’m in!  
And then food!  
I picked the activity so you have to pick the food!  
Kihyun  
Cute cupcakes  
cute cupcakes??? I’M IN!!!!!!!!!!!  
It’s a bit expensive but I’m paying SO  
WE’RE GOING TO DDONGDDONG GAME LAND  
Best arcade ever seriously  
Meet there at  
What day is Valentine’s hang on  
Kihyun  
I’m paying for the food then!!!  
Thursday, okay  
I kind of schedule myself so I’ll be good to be there at like 4 or something?  
Kihyun  
Sounds good!  
I don’t work on Wednesdays but I can ask them to swap  
Awesome :DDD  
Oh boy now I’m all excited  
Kihyun  
Same!  
Can’t wait to meet you!  
OH BOY NOW I’M ALL NERVOUS  
Kihyun  
Me too  
A bit…  
Either way  
Friends?  
Like in case it’s weird…  
Can we still talk?  
Yeah, I don’t see why not  
After embarrassing myself on a DDR machine, you might change your mind about that lmao  
Kihyun  
Or not  
We’ll see  
it’s happened before, my good dude  
There were casualties  
Kihyun  
Can’t wait then!!!  
(Purple Heart )  


 

Kihyun quickly taps on his phone, almost calls his mother by mistake before he manages to swipe over Minhyuk’s name. He brings the phone to his ear, grabs at the collar of his jacket and tugs it up, over his scarf.

The nights have been cold, lately. But at least it hasn’t been raining.

The countdown on the traffic light ahead reaches ten and Kihyun runs a little, feet slightly cold in his converse (still better than those polished shoes he had to wear for work), his backpack bounces in an uncomfortable way.

Luckily, he manages to cross the street. And the phone beeps one last time before Minhyuk picks up.

“Hello, hello?”

“Hey!” Kihyun huffs, turns around just slightly to watch the lights change and the cars move. “How’s it going? Still drowning in notes and post-its?”

“I want to _die_ , Kihyun,” Minhyuk moans on the other end of the phone like a petulant child. “Life _hates me_ . I just want a nice boyfriend, not _headaches_.”

“Well, maybe you can…” Kihyun licks his lips and turns to walk down the street. “Feel good for me? Vicariously live through me, Minhyuk.”

“What? Why? Do you have a boyfriend now?” Minhyuk gasps. “Did the catfish ask you to be his or her boyfriend?”

“No,” Kihyun laughs. “But he asked me on a date! On Valentine’s!”

“What?!” Minhyuk screeches from the other side of the phone. “No fair! That’s awesome, though, where are you going?!”

“To the arcade!” Kihyun skips a step. “You… You have to help me pick an outfit, Min. I don’t…” _Don’t wanna look stupid..._

“Yeah, I will, don’t worry. Does he know, by the way? Arcade might be a difficult place for that, you know.”

“Shhhhh!” Kihyun puffs his cheeks. “It’s fine… I can do it. As long as I can see the differences, it will be fine. I just… need to figure out which is which!”

“Alright, alright. Shit, that’s great, though. If he really _does_ look like that, you better kiss him! If I’m living vicariously, live properly.”

“Hn!” Kihyun wobbles a little. “He’s pretty… I hope he looks like that… If he doesn’t, though, maybe he’s still cute? And if he’s not then… It will be like hanging out with you, hah.”

“ _Funny_.” A pause. “Wait, he doesn’t maybe have a nice lookin’ friend he can set me up with? Your boy needs some dick, dude. Seriously, after this exam? _I’m begging_.”

“Uhm, he has a few friends… They’re all very good looking--Ah! Minhyuk!” Kihyun jumps a little to keep himself warm. “He’s friends with Lee Hoseok! The guy who created MonBebe! And,” Kihyun gestures with a finger, “Hoseok is dating Hyungwon, who happens to be Changkyun’s ex boyfriend. And there’s Jooheon? I think it was Jooheon. He’s an underground rapper!” Kihyun pauses and frowns. “The more I talk about it the more I realize how it could all be just a bigass lie…”

“Er, _yeah_ , this does sound… A bit far-fetched but eh, I guess anything is possible. Maybe attractive people just move in droves. Dunno what I’m doing hanging out with you.”

“I know right?” Kihyun sighs dramatically. “I’m way too pretty to be friends with you. I’m glad we agree on that.”

“I cannot _believe_ you’re the one with a date and I’m not…” Minhyuk grumbles. “Maybe Shownu will let me get on that. For old times’ sake.”

“Suuuuure,” Kihyun squints. “After you beg his girlfriend, maybe.”

“She’s not bad-looking either…” Minhyuk hums.

“Oh god, _fine_. Google for a ‘Jooheon rapper’ and see if you like what you see.”

“These people are on _Google_? Jesus.”

“Have you ever Googled yourself? I have. Found my Twitter account, and the picture of a western woman. For some reason...”

“Is this him?!” Minhyuk screeches from the other side of the phone. “Oh god. I have a mighty need…”

Kihyun snorts a laugh. “Well, that was fast…”

Minhyuk makes a sound akin to “Hnnnn,” and then, “If he gets me a date with this guy, I will one hundred percent suck his dick. This is a Lee Minhyuk guarantee. Can’t put a price on that.”

“I’ll… make sure to let Changkyun know then!” Kihyun says and then laughs a little. “But yeah. That’s it, that’s why I called. Also! I got tipped tonight!”

“Life is working out well for you, Yoo Kihyun.”

Kihyun smiles. “Yeah? It would be even better if…” He sighs. “Nevermind. So! I have a date at four on Valentine’s day. You’re coming over on Wednesday to help me pick my clothes! This is the ultimate trust, Min. Don’t fuck it up!”

“We might not always be all fucking, up on each other’s laps or whatever, but you’re my friend, and I would never, _ever_ deprive you of quality dick.”

“Thank you very much!” Kihyun chirps. There was a time when he’d feel out of place whenever Minhyuk spoke like this. But those times are long gone, fortunately or unfortunately.

“You’re welcome. Now stop talking to me, I have notes to go through and you have flirting to do, chop chop.”

“Bye bye,” Kihyun sing-songs and then sighs when Minhyuk ends the call. Kihyun pockets his phone and looks up at the sky. _Black._ He knows it’s not exactly black because he’s been told it’s a dark, dark blue. But black is what dark blue looks like. “Maybe I should tell him…” Kihyun mumbles. And then frowns a little. It shouldn’t have to be such a big deal. And yet…

And yet Changkyun is an artist, right? Someone who tattoos and uses colours, perhaps the whole palette. Wouldn’t it be slightly off-putting if suddenly he realized Kihyun can’t really… see it? See them? The colours… All he knows, because it’s what he’s been told, is that black, grey and white are a thing. And for the past twenty four years, that’s all the colour Kihyun has known.

“Meh,” Kihyun pouts, kicks an invisible rock. “Stupid eyes…”

 

 

Changkyunie  
HEY, KI!!!!!!  
I WANNA SHOW YOU A THING TOO!!!  
Hello!  
Show me show me!  
Changkyunie  
:DDD the tattoo I finished the other day?   
The girl sent me what it looks like all nice and healed  
I did the design and I thought you’d like to see so  
  
[](https://i.imgur.com/OezWOgd.png)  
Ta da!  
Oh  
Foxes!!!!  
Foxes right????  
Changkyunie  
Yep! One fire, one ice  
I love working with geometric shapes and making animals and stuff from that?  
And watercolour tattoos are sjdhgkjhg I love it  
It really looks like it was painted you know  
They look so cute  
Ice and fire was it  
Changkyunie  
yep, or wasn’t that obvious??   
She said she wanted ice and fire...   
Thought the blue and the red/orange would show that  
Yeah!!!  
You make me want to get one myself  
Changkyunie  
actually, have you had anything in mind?  
I can give you a biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiig discount ;)  
Please you don’t have to  
And hm  
Flowers  
All in different colours  
Like the rainbow!!!  
Changkyunie  
:D I love flower designs!!!  
We’ll talk about it  
If you see anything you like, send it my way and i’ll draw you somethin~  
Flowers, styles, whatever  
Yeah! Okay!!  
Can I ask you something?  
Changkyunie  
Shoot  
Why colour?  
Why watercolour?  
I mean… usually people go for black and white tattoos, right?  
Changkyunie  
mm mostly, yeah  
And I love black and white tattoos, all mine are  
But idk it’s nice to think that I’m bringing colour to people’s lives  
Make it all just a little brighter  
Oh  
Yeah that makes sense  
Changkyunie  
Like you! All your pictures I see you’re wearing all these colours  
It’s lovely  
I say, wearing mostly monochrome anyway…  
Monochrome is nice though…  
Changkyunie  
Of course it is  
Otherwise I wouldn’t dress in it 80 percent of the time  
Idk it’s like  
A lot of the times you can see more beauty in monochrome  
Because you notice details instead of being blinded by colour  
But then again, sometimes colour helps tell a story  
Idk I like both  
Me too  
I suppose…  
Will you be wearing black and white on our date???  
Changkyunie  
wouldn’t be myself otherwise lol  
I see  
Then!!!  
I’ll be wearing lots of colour!  
Changkyunie  
Good!! (Heavy Black Heart ≊ Red Heart)(Heavy Black Heart ≊ Red Heart)(Heavy Black Heart ≊ Red Heart)(Heavy Black Heart ≊ Red Heart)(Heavy Black Heart ≊ Red Heart)(Heavy Black Heart ≊ Red Heart)(Heavy Black Heart ≊ Red Heart)

Kihyun lets the phone fall over the bed and sighs. “I’m a starfish,” he tells no one. Except he doesn’t know what colour starfishes are. He pouts a little and blinks at the ceiling. “I’m so sorry, Kyunie… I don’t know what fire looks like. I don’t know what red looks like…” Kihyun takes a deep breath and blinks again, blindly reaching for his phone.

 

Show me more  
Changkyunie  
winkwink  
I assume you mean my tattoos?  
Whatever art you’ve made  
I wanna see  
They have stories right?  
I wanna know those too  
Changkyunie  
:< idk why but you’re making me emo  
  
[](https://imgur.com/X4U8gwE.png)  
I did this one yesterday  
Ironic, since you want flowers  
If you make one for me  
I’ll get it  
Also  
That one is pretty  
Does it have a story? Or a meaning?  
Changkyunie  
Yeah? Kind of  
I really like blue and purple, especially flowers  
My mom always kept them in the house because my dad gave her purple roses  
Because she was ranting about red roses being cliche so  
He did that and she said yes to a date and now I exist  
So you exist because of purple!!  
Changkyunie  
I guess so! It’s why I always send purple hearts  
Voila (Heavy Black Heart ≊ Red Heart)(Heavy Black Heart ≊ Red Heart)(Heavy Black Heart ≊ Red Heart)(Heavy Black Heart ≊ Red Heart)(Heavy Black Heart ≊ Red Heart)(Heavy Black Heart ≊ Red Heart)  
Cute  
So purple is your favorite colour??  
Changkyunie  
It is, yes  
And yours???  
Ah  
I don’t have one  
Changkyunie  
You can’t decide??  
I guess????  
Changkyunie  
I think you’d look nice in yellow~  
It’s bright and sunny like you  
Oh  
I think I have a few yellow shirts…  
Now I’ll have to buy more yellow!  
Changkyunie  
ahahaha you take well to compliments, I’m glad  
Jooheon? Oh god I call him pretty and he just  
NOPE  
Ugh why would I liiiieeee  
Well  
It’s your opinion so whether I agree or not all I can say is  
Thank you for thinking of me like that  
Changkyunie  
that’s a great way to think about it  
I’ll remember that  
Knew there was a reason I like you  
You like me?  
Changkyunie  
Yeah, think I might just do that  
??????????  
Changkyunie  
hah, I wore colour today cos of you, you know  
Oh  
How did that make you feel?  
Changkyunie  
not much of a difference, really  
Hyungwon just had a few comments about it but meh who cares, I like some colour sometimes  
Bet you looked really nice  
Changkyunie  
  
[](https://i.imgur.com/uUCziVK.jpg)  
Thank you!!!  
Hadn’t noticed your hair was darker!!  
Did you dye it?  
Changkyunie  
yeeeeeeeeep! Needed to touch it up but  
My hair gets frizzy if I mess with it too much so I always go back to black  
You look adorable  
Changkyunie  
aw shucks >.<  
I send you all these selfies and yet… I sit here with empty hands  
It’s all give give give with you, Kiki  
What???  
I’m…  
Not exactly put together right now…  
Changkyunie  
:<<< pwetty pwease?  
Bet you still look pretty  
Okay…  
1 sec  
  
[](https://i.imgur.com/cAW08pS.jpg)  
Changkyunie  
this is you NOT put together?????  
My eyes are a bit meh today  
Changkyunie  
then I dread the power they hold when not Meh  
Srsly you look cute  
Thank you!!!!

Kihyun turns on his side and sighs. Minhyuk is quite literally on speed dial, so that’s who Kihyun calls. Because even though Shownu would be better when it comes to these things, Kihyun knows no one will kick his ass as well as Minhyuk. And that’s what Kihyun needs right now, some good ass kicking.

“What do you need?” Minhyuk asks after only a few beeps.

Kihyun swallows and it hurts a little. “Just need to talk to you for a bit. Sorry…”

“Okay? You sound sad, what did you do?”

Kihyun frowns and pouts a little. “Nothing… Just that…” His eyes burn.

“Is it the colour thing again…? Kihyun, you _know_ what I’m gonna say.”

“I know… but I wanna see them, too… it’s so unfair. I don’t even know what things are supposed to look like! Like… What _is_ blue? It looks just as dark and dull as red or green to me…”

“Comparing yourself to other people,” Minhyuk says, like he always does. “Is why people are never happy. I know it’s unfair, but we’ll get you one of those glasses, yeah? Or contact lenses, or whatever. At least there are options, yeah? You have eyes, you can see, just not as much as other people. But then again, some people are completely blind, all that. If you _need_ to compare yourself to others, don’t just look up. It could be worse. It could be better, but it could always be worse, too.”

Kihyun turns his face onto the bed and mumbles a muffled, sniffly, “I know… It’s just… people always sound so happy… I’m sorry, I’ll shut up.”

Minhyuk sighs. “Is this about Changkyun? I haven’t heard a sad colour rant in a while, I’m just weighing the variables over here.”

Kihyun sniffles one last time, almost turns into a snort, and sits up, blinks the tears away and rubs at his face with his free hand. “Nope! It’s nothing! I’m fine.”

“Uh-huh... Get it out of your system now, before you ruin your makeup before the date.”

“I said I’m fine,” Kihyun hisses. “Gonna hang up now, thank you for your time.”

“He just… uses and discards me,” Minhyuk sighs dramatically.

“Blablablabla,” Kihyun mumbles and then hangs up. He falls back onto the bed and slaps at his cheek. “Stop.” _Slap._ “Feeling.” _Slap._ “Sorry.” _Slap._ “For.” _Slap._ “Yourself.”

He fumbles with his phone a bit, lets it fall between his legs and then, between a few ‘wah’s he falls off the bed.

 

I’ll be seeing you soooooon  
Changkyunie  
AISH  
Don’t hype yourself up too much and then it’s just my dorky ass  
Wasn’t planning on meeting your ass just yet  
But  
If you wanna get to that?   
I guess we can arrange something  
Changkyunie  
KJHDFGJSDGJKHG  
DON’T JOKE ABOUT THAT IT’S BEEN  
[loud coughing]  
ANYWAY  
It’s been?  
Changkyunie  
...a while  
Oh  
I’m fine either way though so  
Changkyunie  
either way???  
Meeting my ass or not meeting my ass or?  
Who knows  
I like to keep you guessing  
Changkyunie  
this is cruel and unusual but alright  
Why is it unusual?  
People always wanna meet your ass?  
Changkyunie  
obviously  
You haven’t seen my ass yet which is why I think you might be confused  
Well you did send me that mermaid pose  
Changkyunie  
OH SHIT YEAH I DID DO THAT AHAHAHA  
Oh man why am I like this  
Idk? But I kinda like it  
Changkyunie  
my ass? thanks  
Eeeeeeh sure  
Seriously though  
I’m excited  
Changkyunie  
yeah? :3 me too  
I’m gonna catch an early night tho~  
gonna spend hours on a tattoo tomorrow  
and obviously I can’t afford to make any mistakes lol  
Sounds surgical  
Good luck!  
I’m sure you’ll do great!!  
And goodnight!!!  
Changkyunie  
Goodnight, cutie!  
(Heavy Black Heart ≊ Red Heart)

 

There’s a lot of reasons to be nervous.

_Right?_

It’s a date! People are always nervous for those! And Changkyun knows he’s a confident guy, but… Well… Kihyun’s cute. Really cute. It makes Changkyun a little nervous. Mostly because the only relationship Changkyun’s ever had was a botched attempt with a friend, and all other experiences just fooling around with someone after a few drinks and... And Changkyun actually likes Kihyun.

He doesn’t often _like_ people. Like them, sure, but ask them out on dates after talking for a week? Having never met them? _What the hell, Changkyun..._

So he stops for bubble tea. Changkyun fuckin’ loves bubble tea, and hey, could make for a good impression.

 

bubble tea??? (Grinning Face With Smiling Eyes )  
Kihyun  
Chai bubble tea!!!!  
honeycomb pops???  
I’m getting honeycomb pops you’ll love it

Changkyun orders the tea before hurrying down the street with said tea in hand, bubbles sloshing around. Again, this is fine. He’s probably going to embarrass himself a little, especially if Kihyun laughs at it. He doesn’t mind embarrassing himself every now and then if it makes someone laugh.

He slows when he sees someone by the entrance to the arcade. Boyfriend jeans, cuffed and all; white sneakers, bomber jacket and t-shirt in green, red, yellow, white. Brown hair a little wavy. Absent expression as he kicks a little at the air. He’s… cute. Really cute. Again with the cute! Changkyun wonders if he’d have had the courage to approach him if it wasn’t a stupid dating site. Maybe that’s the point of stupid dating sites.

“Kihyun-hyung?” Changkyun asks, stepping closer with a question in his eyes and bubble tea in his hands.

Kihyun visibly jumps a little to the wall, wide eyes that move to Changkyun the moment he’s close enough. “Your… voice.” Kihyun blinks, tilts his head a little. “That surprised me…”

“Sorry?” Changkyun tries, amused. “Didn’t mean to make you jump like that.” As cute as it was.

Kihyun blinks one more time and then smiles playfully. “Ah, so you do look like the guy in the pics… I see, I see.”

Changkyun laughs, holds out one of the teas. “I do! You look even prettier, though, which--no fair. Glad we can finally put this catfishing business behind us.”

Kihyun takes the bubbletea and smiles a little as he holds it between his hands. _Tiny! Hands!_ “Thank you,” he says and even though he doesn’t blush, his ears are a bit red. He takes a sip and scrunches his nose a little when he does. “Hm! So nice!” He shivers. A full body shiver. And then beams a little at Changkyun and says, “Thank you for the bubbles!”

See? This is the stuff one can’t see through the phone.

“Er,” Changkyun says, realises he’s been staring and feels his cheeks and ears heat up a little. “You’re welcome… Uhm.” Changkyun scratches a little at the back of his head.

Kihyun bites a little at the straw and looks Changkyun up and down. “There’s a lot of black going on…”

The checking Changkyun out thing does _not_ help the blushing. “Yeah! I told you, I always dress like this. Good for business,” Changkyun laughs, takes a sip of his own bubbletea and glances into the arcade. There are so many neon lights and bright colours it almost gives him an instant headache.

“By the way,” Kihyun says, waves Changkyun closer and gestures at his own neck. “You can test it out now. If I smell bad.”

Changkyun blinks a little. “You’re… Inviting me to sniff you right now? Is that what’s happening?”

Kihyun raises an eyebrow and then shrugs. When he pouts, his chin wrinkles a little. “You don’t have to if you don’t want to… It’s just…” He looks Changkyun up and down again. “You seem tense.”

“I’m not tense!” Changkyun defends immediately. “Come ‘ere, lemme sniff you like a dog in heat,” he laughs, stepping closer with an open arms. And Kihyun snorts a laugh as he side-steps closer, arm bumping against Changkyun’s chest once he’s close enough.

 _This is odd_ , Changkyun thinks. But he’s smiling. “You’re an interesting guy, hyung,” Changkyun says, feels his nose brush a bit at Kihyun’s hair as he breathes in a little through his nose.

Wow, he… does smell good. Really good. What the fuck.

“How so?” Kihyun asks and then Changkyun watches him slurp enough into his mouth to fill both cheeks as he puffs them and starts munching at the bubbles.

Changkyun leans back, smiles wider. “Are you being cute on purpose or are you always like this?”

“Hm?” Kihyun turns to look at Changkyun and a bit of tea almost slips out so Kihyun instantly tilts his chin up and swallows. “Sorry, what?” He asks as he looks back at Changkyun.

“Think I just got my answer,” he smiles, bumps Kihyun a bit with his arm. “You smell really nice, by the way.”

“Thank you!” Kihyun smiles. “You, too.”

“You finally gave me an excuse to use my fancy perfume,” Changkyun laughs, catches a few bubbles in his mouth when he sucks at the straw.

“Oh?” Kihyun sways a little. “I’m glad, then. It smells really good. What perfume is it?”

“Ah, I only reveal my perfume after the third date, Kihyunnie,” Changkyun grins, sways a little in tandem. “Gotta leave some things to the imagination.”

“Okay, then,” Kihyun nods. “Imagination. I have plenty of that.”

“Good,” Changkyun winks, takes a step back and motions with his head to the arcade. “Wanna go check out the prizes? We need a goal, after all.”

“I’m getting you the wolf plushie,” Kihyun says as he tilts his chin up, “Watch me.”

Changkyun gapes. “You _already_ checked them out _and_ decided? Wow, give me a chance to impress you, too!”

“You’ve been doing that all week, though,” Kihyun mumbles with the straw in his mouth.

“Ugh, smooth. Come on,” Changkyun says, puts a hand on Kihyun’s back--glancing over to make sure it’s okay--as he leads them to the counter.

Kihyun leans in to look at Changkyun’s bubble tea. “What flavour?”

“Matcha with vanilla bubbles. It’s my favourite. Wanna try it?” Changkyun offers, holding it out before reaching for his wallet stuffed into his pocket.

Kihyun doesn’t take the cup, though. Just takes the straw between his lips and sucks a little before leaning back. Changkyun unabashedly stares throughout. “Oh! I like it.” Kihyun nods. “It’s good.”

“Ye-yeah,” Changkyun swallows a little, fumbles with his wallet like the gay disaster he is, “Uhm, I’ll get us some--some coins for the machines. Anything in particular you wanna play?”

“The step-dance one!” Kihyun nods and leans a little over the counter to look around. “And the Basketball one!”

“Great! Those are some of my favourites,” Changkyun says. “Now, I know this isn’t technically an arcade game, but it feels like winning the jackpot at a casino, so watch this.”

Changkyun puts a bill into the coin dispenser and moves the satchel he’s carrying so he can catch the coins that fall out of the machine with a gleeful cackle.

Kihyun swings his arms around and smiles. “You know, it’s not the same, but for that bill I’d sit on your table and sing for you.”

Changkyun flushes, staring down at the bag as it slowly fills up. “I seriously need to find out where you work…”

“Maybe I’ll take you there on the third date…”

“Must you seduce me in public like this?” Changkyun laughs. Is it hot in here or…? He smacks his cheek and the coins stop.

Kihyun leans in close, eyes wide and on Changkyun’s face. “Are you blushing?”

Changkyun flushes even more. Because of course. He narrows his eyes, reaches for Kihyun’s hand and puts it to his hot, red cheek. “No _duh_.”

Kihyun blinks and smiles in an unexpected way. “Oh… So, that’s what it is.”

Kihyun’s hand is soft. It’s all very gay and stupid, so Changkyun leans away with a scoff. “I doubt you’ve never made anyone else blush, dude…”

“I wouldn’t know…” Kihyun mumbles under his breath, but Changkyun still hears it.

Changkyun frowns. _Huh?_ “Not very observant, then. Now come on, we got balls to throw around. Take that as you wish.”

“Balls to the wall,” Kihyun sing-songs. He takes one of the coins and turns to walk backwards as he makes the coin disappear between his fingers. He leans in just enough to touch Changkyun’s ear and when he moves his hand in front of Changkyun’s eyes, he’s holding the coin again.

“Oh, wow!” Changkyun laughs, snatches at the coin to hold it up in the light. “You finally found that shit I never manage to give!”

Kihyun huffs a laugh and shakes his head, turns around to walk ahead. “You’re bright.”

“Bright?” Changkyun asks, taking a few quick steps to beat Kihyun to the basketball machine and slip a coin into two sections.

“The winner gets a kiss on the cheek,” Kihyun says as he pads closer and stands on his tiptoes for a moment when he reaches the machine. “Deal?”

Changkyun blinks, mouth a little open. Is this real? Is this actually a thing that happens? “Er,” he says, again, all intelligent, before the machine lights up and a few basketballs fall down for them to reach and he quickly yelps, “Deal!” and grabs one to throw. It doesn’t go in. Obviously.

It’s a fluke! A gay panic fluke!

With the rest of them, he manages well, remembers playing this in Hyungwon’s driveway and managing to do better than Hyungwon even though he was much shorter. He laughs, though, when one hits him in the face and he runs to catch it, returning with a flourishing jump and actually manages to sink it.

“Hah!” Changkyun laughs.

“Oh!” Kihyun laughs (it’s so cute when he jumps, _ugh_ ). “You’re good!”

“What every guy likes to hear,” Changkyun laughs, hands to his knees when the time runs out. His score reads 34, where Kihyun’s--“So do I kiss you now or do they stack?”

“Pshe,” Kihyun throws his remaining ball even though it doesn’t count and then spins a little and pouts. “Come here, then.”

Time to be cool. Time to be confident. Time to--hang on, was that a _lisp_ \--Changkyun trips a little over nothing, in the _two feet!!!!_ that separates them. _Two feet! Lisp! Panic!_

Kihyun laughs and reaches for Changkyun’s shoulders to hold him. “Are you okay?”

Changkyun flushes and nods. “Yeah--yeah, I’m great, I’m just blushing again, no biggie. I talk big but I’m… easily affected,” Changkyun admits.

“Ah,” Kihyun lets go and glances away. “You don’t have to, though? It’s okay.”

“I want to,” Changkyun mumbles, leans in and kisses Kihyun’s cheek, flushes a little more and tugs at Kihyun’s arm. “Maybe you weren’t fucking around with that god-like self-confidence, though. What _have_ I gotten myself into…”

Kihyun blinks at where he’d been looking and then shivers. A full body shiver again. “Honestly, most of it is just bravado…” He mumbles and gives Changkyun a shy glance. “I think I kinda like you.”

“Oh,” Changkyun says, smiling a little. “That… Actually helps, thanks.”

Kihyun grins and points at the machines. “Now I must get my revenge. Slip in the coin, coin-man!”

Changkyun laughs, an odd warmth in his chest as he pulls Kihyun along. “I like you, too, Kihyun.” And Kihyun actually beams.

 

 

Arcades are fun. Kihyun has been to arcades before. The only problem is: colours. Everything is supposedly filled with colours. And sometimes? One needs to know what colour to hit. Which can be quite difficult to do when red and blue kinda look like the same dull grey in Kihyun’s eyes.

“Which ones am I supposed to hit again?” Kihyun asks, holding the plastic pistol up at the screen.

“The red ones,” Changkyun says from a little behind him. There’s only one machine, so they can’t exactly play together this time. It makes it difficult, that he can’t just follow along. “I can show you?”

“Please…” Kihyun mumbles as he side-steps a little and holds the pistol for Changkyun, trying for a sheepish smile.

“No, no, no,” Changkyun says, hand on Kihyun’s arm to bring him back to the middle, puts the pistol back in his hand, puts his hand over Kihyun’s and Kihyun startles a little bit. “We’re doing this the obnoxious date way where I pretend I can only show you by guiding you.”

“Oh, sounds good,” Kihyun smiles, then, and lets himself fall back a little on purpose, back against Changkyun’s chest. “Show me the world, Kyunie.”

“You’re terrible,” Changkyun laughs at Kihyun’s ear. It makes Kihyun’s shoulder come up a little and his eye twitches when he tries to avoid a shiver. Changkyun brings his arms around Kihyun to aim the pistol at zombies approaching on the screen. “Now… Pew! Pew!”

“Do you like movies?” Kihyun asks absently as he lets Changkyun guide his arm. _Oh, so those are the red lines!_

“Who doesn’t?” Changkyun asks, guides his arm and startles a little at a fast zombie coming up at the right, almost shoots a survivor running for shelter.

“Hm,” Kihyun squints a little at the screen and bites at his lower lip. Changkyun is broader than he is. Maybe that’s why Kihyun fits in so easily. “Sci-fi?”

“Yeah! My favourite, actually,” Changkyun says, ducks in to kiss at Kihyun’s cheek before he lets go. “That’s for helping.”

Kihyun takes a breath. His heart keeps doing these little jumps today. But, somehow, it makes him happy. “I really need to win at something…”

Changkyun laughs, “Well, I certainly don’t mind. Although my cheeks do feel a little lonely at the moment.”

“You better not let me win on purpose…” Kihyun mumbles. His heart keeps pounding in his chest but he’s still not letting that overlap his competitiveness.

“It’s not in my personality,” Changkyun assures, wiggles the satchel. There are a few coins left among all the tickets they’ve accumulated. “How’s your dancing? I think the DDR is open right now.”

Kihyun hums. “It’s decent.”

“I don’t think my loose hips help with any sense of coordination, so you’ll be fine,” Changkyun chuckles and starts walking.

Kihyun chokes on a laugh and blinks before he makes a little run to keep up with Changkyun. “Loose hips? For real?”

With the oversized black shirt Changkyun’s wearing, Kihyun mostly sees legs (long…) moving as Changkyun moves his hips from side to side obnoxiously. “How do you think I get free drinks in clubs?”

_He does?_

“You do?” Kihyun blinks, actually surprised.

“Meh, I used to,” Changkyun says, hopping onto the machine. “Haven’t gone dancing in a while. That’s the real reason I went, really. Not the drinking or the gropey men or whatever, just… Music. Losing yourself in it. It’s fun.”

“Ah,” Kihyun smiles and hops onto the machine next to Changkyun’s. “I know what you mean. Not with dancing but… singing.” Kihyun’s smile falters a little but he manages to keep it as he stares at the supposedly colourful arrows move on the screen’s preview. “It’s like… seeing. To me, at least. Music is colourful…”

Changkyun frowns a little at him, clearly confused with how his mouth opens but doesn’t form any words. The machine starts blaring high-pitched J-pop and Changkyun yelps a little, feet moving erratically as he grips at the bar behind him. It’s… ridiculous looking, really. But Kihyun laughs at him. Really, really laughs at him. Because it’s ridiculous but funny.

At least, in the end, Kihyun won this round.

“My turn!” He says as he jumps from his machine to Changkyun’s to get a little closer.

“Your excitement is adorable,” Changkyun laughs, cheeks dimpling deep in a smile.

“You joking?” Kihyun scoffs. “I finally won!”

“I’m waiting,” Changkyun says, then, pats at his cheek as he puffs it out a little and leans it into Kihyun’s personal bubble.

Kihyun pouts for a moment and then rolls his eyes, softly presses his lips against Changkyun’s cheek but makes a loud, “Muwah!”

Changkyun, for the first time since they’ve met, giggles. Not the usual deep-voiced laugh, a high pitched giggle. It warms Kihyun’s chest so much that all he can do is stare, blink and stare some more.

Is this what it feels like to click with someone? Kihyun’s liked people before. But there’s always something… Either it’s unrequited or they end up saying something or doing something that just doesn’t do it for him. But this is… Warm. Nice. Hopeful.

“What?” Changkyun asks, smile still wide. “Something on my face?”

Kihyun frowns and looks away as he gestures at Changkyun’s face. “Just a bunch of cute nonsense.”

“Definitely taking that as a flirtation,” Changkyun grins. “Sure hope it was one.”

Maybe it would be okay to tell him. Maybe it wouldn’t change anything. Except that maybe Kihyun kind of lied by omission. So, that’s not exactly a good weight on the scale. Then again, it shouldn’t be a problem but…

Kihyun points at another machine. “Let’s go, coin-man.”

“I prefer Kyunie to be completely honest with you,” Changkyun laughs again, does a little skip when he walks over.

“Thank you for talking to me first,” Kihyun mumbles.

Changkyun stops to turn to him, frowning a little again. “You’re welcome… I’m glad I did…”

“Me too!”

Changkyun gapes down at the cupcake in front of him. “I can’t eat this!”

Changkyun’s never been here before. It’s cute if not a little crowded, but that’s only to be expected. The red hearts and candles everywhere is a nice touch, though, if not a slight fire hazard.

“Why not?” Kihyun blinks and then leans closer to look at Changkyun’s cupcake. Kihyun’s is a red velvet cupcake, sprinkled with little hearts on top. Changkyun’s is a chocolate one, with two huge red hearts stabbing the cream on top and a few star sprinkles.

“It’s too cute,” Changkyun pouts, picking up the cupcake, holds it next to his face.

Kihyun leans back and smiles at him. “It looks like you.”

Changkyun looks sideways at the cupcake, _it does?_ , turning it to face him before turning it back at Kihyun. “ _Pwease don’t eat me, Kyuwnie. I’m just a widdle cupcake._ ”

“Aish,” Kihyun laughs. “Now you made me feel sorry for it!”

“Good! That was the point!” Changkyun laughs, putting the cupcake down. “Ugh, so cute, but it looks _delicious_ …”

“Shame they were already of the the bear ones,” Kihyun says as he tugs at the little wrapper around his cupcake. “Would have been great to see you struggle to eat those.”

Changkyun looks up at him with wide eyes. “ _Bears_? Oh, gosh, no…” He pokes at his cupcake, taking off the wrapper with a pout. “I’m sorry little fella…” And then stuffs it into his mouth whole.

Kihyun’s chin goes all wrinkly when he pouts and shrugs one shoulder. He quickly does the same, though, and shoves it into his mouth, cheeks puffing instantly.

Changkyun chews-- _holy shit it’s good_ \--and knows his eyes are smiling even if he can’t really pull his lips up in his current state, reaching out to poke at the puff of Kihyun’s cheek. There is no reason to be this cute, honestly.

Kihyun scrunches his nose when Changkyun pokes his cheek. But it’s cute. Especially, when Kihyun munches while absently folding the cupcake wrapper in two and then four, a few faded freckles under a thin layer of makeup. His wavy brown hair looks really soft, too.

Changkyun swallows, winces only a little (should have chewed more) and thumbs a little at Kihyun’s cheek, at the makeup covering a spot. It’s an… oddly intimate thing to be doing on a first date, so he smiles a little sheepish and moves his hand away.

“Something on my face?” Kihyun asks, one cheek still puffed. He’s already moved on to fold Changkyun’s cupcake wrapper.

“Moles,” Changkyun says, shrugs. “And a little bit of cupcake, but that’s okay,” Changkyun laughs, holding a serviette out for him.

Kihyun pauses and looks at Changkyun. “Moles? You like moles?”

Changkyun nods. “It’s like little tattoos your body gave itself.”

“Oh, look, then,” Kihyun swallows and fumbles a little with one of the sleeves of his jacket. He brings it up to his elbow and folds his arm, points at a big yet little spot on his arm. “Birthmark. I’ve had this one since forever.”

Changkyun grins wide, leaning over to look. “Impressive. I have one like that but it’s on my inner thigh. Would make for a slight disruption if I were to show you right now.”

Kihyun blinks at him. “Oh…” He snorts and shakes his head, pulls his sleeve back down. “Yeah, better not.” He sighs. “Okay, where to, now?”

Changkyun squints, leans forward a little more. “Why you sigh? No sighing allowed on dates.”

“Ooops,” Kihyun slaps both hands over his mouth.

“I knew it,” Changkyun sits back, hand on his chest, the other over his mouth like he’s about to break into tears. “You’re having a terrible time… Of course! I’ve been a fool!”

“No!” Kihyun laughs and turns to him, slaps softly at his shoulder. “No, I’m not! I haven’t had this much fun in a while.”

Changkyun pauses mid dramatic pose, opens one eye to peek at Kihyun. “For realsies?”

Kihyun nods, cheeks slightly pink. “Yep! Best date ever!” He rolls his eyes dramatically. “I mean, an arcade? Really? Who would have thought of that. But it was great. You kicked my ass, but it was great.”

Changkyun laughs, relaxing a little in his chair. “Can’t start off any romantic endeavour without a bit of ass kicking.”

“Right?” Kihyun snaps his fingers. “I totally agree.”

Changkyun chuckles, leaning back in his chair and spots--”Oh, my god,” he gapes, reaching over to take Kihyun’s wrist to throttle him a little. “There’s a photobooth! Kihyun, we gotta!”

“Alright, alright,” Kihyun laughs. “Make it gay so I can show Minhyuk.”

“Challenge accepted,” Changkyun says, letting go and getting up, reaching for the little wolf plushie he’d put on the third chair (“A witness,” Changkyun had said). Kihyun grabs his phone and wallet and quickly pockets them inside his jacket to follow after Changkyun. There’s just a small line, couples waiting, being gross and cute before slipping in.

“Man, we’re kicking Valentine’s Day’s ass right now,” Changkyun says, swaying a little with his hand in his pocket, plushie under his arm.

“Have you had Valentine’s dates before?” Kihyun asks as he smiles small at the plushie.

“Never had a date before,” Changkyun shrugs. “I guess. Kind of. I mean, I went out with Hyungwon when we were dating but, eh, doesn’t count.”

“Oh,” Kihyun blinks and then turns his head to look at something else. “Alright.” Changkyun still notices the little smile, though.

“It’s okay, you’re allowed to be smug,” Changkyun grins at him, taking a small step closer as another couple ducks into the booth.

“Just a little, then,” Kihyun chirps. He tiptoes to look over the couple in front of them. “This is a rather straight line, wouldn’t you say?” He slumps back down to his heels and looks over his shoulder with a polite smile.

“Mmm,” Changkyun hums, watching the two in front of them giggle, wiggles his hand for Kihyun. “Wanna gay it up?”

Kihyun looks at Changkyun’s hands and then at him. “Really? You sure?”

“It’s not my _best_ line but…” Changkyun wiggles his fingers and his eyebrows at Kihyun. “Yep.”

It’s amusing how Kihyun just keeps blinking and his face gets a little redder. “Okay, then,” he mumbles, turns to look forward and blindly takes Changkyun’s hand. “Oh…” He goes, “We’re doing some _very public_ PDA.”

“VPPDA,” Changkyun laughs, keeps Kihyun’s hand in his as he moves his arm up over Kihyun’s head and on Kihyun’s furthermost shoulder. “Too much?”

“I feel draped,” Kihyun laughs. “It’s great.”

“I’m drape at greating,” Changkyun smiles wide. Kihyun’s hands are soft and feel a little small in his. And honestly, he should be more embarrassed, more unsure, but it feels so natural to tease and touch that he doesn’t think too much on it. “Oooh, we’re next. Got any ideas?”

“Hm,” Kihyun squints and then smiles and shrugs. “We’ll see when we’re in there.”

“Adapting,” Changkyun nods. “I like your style, Ki.”

“Thank you,” Kihyun laughs softly, sways a little under Changkyun’s arm, that tightens just a little to squeeze him closer.

“I swear, it feels like I’ve known you for ages,” Changkyun says, smiling at Kihyun’s profile. His nose is so _pointy_ and small.

“Sometimes that happens,” Kihyun mumbles. “I’m glad, though.”

“Never happened to me before. But me, too.”

The couple gets out of the booth in front of them and Changkyun bounces, smoothes out a note before putting it into the machine slot with far too much concentration, slipping in with Kihyun and pulling the curtain closed.

“Oooh, filters,” Changkyun says, sitting a little forward. “Pick one.”

Kihyun reaches forward and seems to hesitate a little before clicking on ‘vintage’. “Maybe we were siblings in a previous life. Or best friends. Or, better yet,” Kihyun glances at Changkyun, “Lovers.”

Changkyun’s heart jumps a little. It’s a very small space, okay, and Kihyun’s saying… things.

“Yeah, maybe,” Changkyun smiles, looking at Kihyun, eyes falling a little to his lips before turning back to the screen, clearing his throat as ideas pop into his head. There’s a five second countdown before it starts taking pictures, so Changkyun looks at Kihyun again, smiles a little and asks;

“Can I kiss you?”

Kihyun quickly looks at him and has to lean back a little. It really is a small space. They’re really, really, _really_ close.

“Y--Yeah…” He seems to swap between five different shades in just a few seconds, and Changkyun lets his eyes fall to Kihyun’s lips for another second.

_3_

_2_

_1_

He leans in despite how loud his heart rings in his ears, a hand reaching up to hold at Kihyun’s face as he presses his lips softly over Kihyun’s. There aren’t a lot of things to say about kisses, Changkyun’s always thought. There were good kissers and bad kissers and therefore good kisses and bad kisses, but this was just a soft brush of lips, barely indicative of skill, but it still manages to send a small shiver down Changkyun’s spine, spark a small heat in his chest.

Changkyun leans back, Kihyun’s entire face a soft pink, eyes still closed even as Changkyun smiles wide. There are still a few pictures left, so what the hell--Changkyun leans in again, presses a little more insistently than before, moves his lips a little against Kihyun’s and hears a soft sigh.

One of Kihyun’s hands reaches for Changkyun’s wrist, fingers curling around him. But Kihyun doesn’t break the kiss. Instead, just kisses back, soothes his thumb over Changkyun’s pulse.

Everything is slow, soft and feels right. But then the machine makes an obnoxious noise as it spits out two rolls of pictures and Kihyun almost jumps to the ceiling.

Changkyun laughs, face all red and grabbing the pictures. “Come on,” he says, voice still wavering with laughter as he pulls Kihyun out of the booth, bows a little at the next couple.

“Where, though?” Kihyun asks, hand squeezing at Changkyun’s.

“No idea!” Changkyun laughs, pulls him a little further and then stops, sniffs loudly at the air. “Is that chicken?”

Kihyun smiles wide. “I like chicken.” He glances down at the pictures, then. “Can I see…?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah!” Changkyun hadn’t even looked yet, too damn pumped up on adrenaline or whatever. He moves closer to show Kihyun the pictures and blushes, despite himself. “Gay enough, do you think?”

Kihyun snorts a laugh and then goes, “Pffft,” and his chin wrinkles when he does. “I always thought taking pictures while kissing was ulzzang stuff. But hey, now I have my own!”

“The company I keep leaves me with _ideas_ ,” Changkyun chuckles, handing over one copy of the pictures, leaning forward and bringing the pictures up to his face. He gasps dramatically. “Yoo Kihyun, is that _tongue_?”

“What?!” Kihyun almost yells. He narrows his eyes at his copy of pictures. “Where?!”

Changkyun bends over in a laugh. “Your face! You look so--so _scandelized,_ oh my God…”

Kihyun looks at Changkyun with wide eyes and then back at the pictures. “I’m not! I just…”

Changkyun huffs another small laugh, eyes turning soft. “Yeah?” Changkyun asks, oddly curious.

“Nothing!” Kihyun pouts, shoves a little at Changkyun. “I’m not that shameless, that’s all,” Kihyun grumbles and looks around, sniffing a little at the air. “It does smell like chicken…”

“Want some?” Changkyun asks, and then laughs. “Er, chicken, not tongue. Although…”

Kihyun throws his head back and groans. “I know you meant chicken! Ugh…” He tugs at Changkyun’s hand. “Come on.”

 

 

Kihyun has never _dated_ someone. He’s been to a few dates. All in all, the usual get together and talk for a few hours with coffee for company. It gets a little boring. People are always afraid to go too far or do too little at the same time. Some try to kiss at the end, some don’t. Some try again, some don’t. But people tend to be very specific when all they want is just a one night stand.

This, however, is irregular. In the way it started, maybe, too. But mostly in how it’s been progressing. Bubble tea, the arcade, cupcakes, a silly kiss and fried chicken. It’s not exactly ‘fancy’ and it’s not ‘boring’ either. And maybe that’s why everything feels so natural in a way.

It’s true, though. Changkyun does bring colour to people’s lives. Because Kihyun has never seen colour before, but things seem just a tad brighter today so that must be it.

Unfortunately, it’s coming to an end.

And that’s fine! It’s okay if they don’t see each other again or if somehow it was just something ‘bright’ to remember. But Kihyun’s brain keeps going over and over it again. So, he thinks he knows, that he’ll totally fall in love if it’s not just a one time thing. Why? No reason. Just a gut-feeling. Which is why decides to tell Changkyun the truth. Either way, at least he’ll know. And if that’s okay then maybe a second date will happen. If not? Then…

“By the way!” Kihyun says, suddenly. He brings out his phone and taps at it, goes through his gallery to find a decent picture of his best friend and then almost shoves his phone in Changkyun’s face. “Pretty, right?”

Changkyun moves his head back, probably would have produced an impressive number of double chins if his own wasn’t so prominent. “Er, are you trying to set me up with Minhyuk? Not the best way to end a date, Kihyun.”

“No!” Kihyun brings his phone to his chest and frowns, pouts. “No. Obviously, not. Just…” He blinks. “Is Jooheon single and… into guys?”

Changkyun looks at Kihyun as if surprised. “He’s really bad around pretty boys, Kihyun. Really, _really_ bad. He gets all red and fumbles and it’s adorable, really, but yeah, he is.”

Kihyun smiles. “That’s great!” He dramatizes a little. “I humbly beg you to let me summon my newly acquired friend privileges and have them meet.”

Changkyun laughs. “Alright. If Minhyuk doesn’t mind Jooheon’s inexperience and Jooheon doesn’t murder me in my sleep, sure.”

“You obviously haven’t met Minhyuk,” Kihyun scoffs. “He talks enough for three people. And he pries so much… Jooheon won’t have time to breathe. He’ll be spilling the beans in less than twenty minutes.”

“Am I sending my friend into a date or a hurricane?” Changkyun laughs, running a hand through his hair. “Just… Tell Minhyuk to be--ugh, what’s the word. Gentle? Jooheon’s a squishy dumpling boy. Don’t know if he could handle having his heart broken by someone that pretty.”

“Noted!” Kihyun says. _Ugh, stop sounding so excited all the damn time._ “Thank you,” he smiles a little and then rolls his eyes. “Who knows, maybe Jooheon will be good for Minhyuk...” _He certainly could use some toning down._

“And Minhyuk for Jooheon,” Changkyun agrees, smiling up at the sky. There aren’t a lot of stars there, none that Kihyun can see at least, but it’s open, clear.

“Okay,” Kihyun pockets his phone. _Tell him._ “Cool.” He licks his lips and looks somewhere out the street.

“Is this your stop?” Changkyun asks, leaning against a lamppost next to the bus stop he’s pointing at.

Kihyun nods. “Hmhm.” _Ohmygod, just tell him!_ He takes a deep breath and frowns when he lets it out instead of speaking. Okay.

Okay.

Okay?

Okay. It’s not that much of a big deal, is it?

“Kihyun…? You look nervous,” Changkyun says, reaching out to smooth a hand down Kihyun’s arm and steps closer. “You okay?”

“Yeah,” Kihyun sighs and then slaps both hands over his mouth. He’s not supposed to sigh. So, he nods.

Changkyun smiles a little, before frowning and tilting his head. “Why..? 'Cause I’m a little nervous, too…”

Kihyun blinks, lets his hands fall. “You are?”

“Yeah…?” Changkyun laughs a little, steps a little closer. Kihyun wonders if he’s blushing, wishes he could tell. “Worried I’m gonna try and kiss you again and you won’t want to. That I’ll ask you on a second date and you’ll say no...”

Kihyun’s heart speeds up and he feels his face warm. He frowns, though. “Why… would I say no?”

“Because people see what they want to see?” Changkyun smiles, leans a little closer to kiss Kihyun’s cheek. “Just because I had a great time can’t mean I can assume you did but… I think you did?” Changkyun asks, leaning back to make a hopeful but uncertain expression, obviously a little exaggerated. “So… that’s a yes?”

 _‘People see what they want to see’?_ Kihyun looks down. Not all people. After all, Kihyun really doesn’t want to see the world in shadows of grey. “Yeah…” He mumbles. “And,” he takes a deep breath and steps closer, leans in to kiss Changkyun’s lips. More of a peck than an actual kiss. “If I do this then you don’t have to wonder.”

_But I do… In a way._

He doesn’t have to ruin it right now, though, or throw uncertainty where it’s not wanted. So, Kihyun smiles and files his concerns away for later.

“I’m free on Sundays…” He says.

“Good,” Changkyun says, moving his hands to Kihyun’s waist. “Wanna make a deal?”

Kihyun tilts his head and raises an eyebrow. “A deal?”

“A deal,” Changkyun grins, moving a little closer. There’s probably not even a centimeter between them by now. “I kiss you, and if you like it--and you don’t have to be soft on me, I can take it--but if you reeeeeally like it,” Changkyun tilts his head. “You’ll tell me where you work?”

Kihyun snorts a laugh and his forehead bumps against Changkyun’s. “Okay… Deal, then.”

Kihyun spots a smile just before he feels Changkyun’s lips against his, hands on his waist to guide him back, just a little, until he feels the side of the bus stop against his back. Changkyun seems to _really_ want to know where Kihyun works, with the way he tilts his head, runs his tongue along the seam of Kihyun’s mouth. It makes Kihyun shiver a little with a slight tug at his stomach, but he manages to bring both arms over Changkyun’s neck to keep him close. And, with a soft sigh, opens his mouth and pushes his tongue against Changkyun’s.

It’s slow, in a way Kihyun’s now all too familiar with. There’s no rush, even though they’re standing on a street corner somewhere waiting for a bus, Changkyun kisses Kihyun like they’re waiting for the sunrise, instead. The hands by his waist squeeze a little, before one comes up to smooth up Kihyun’s back and into his hair.

All in all, a perfect ‘goodbye’ kiss. Except, it’s not really goodbye. So, Kihyun lightly pushes Changkyun away, just enough to look at him even though Kihyun knows his own face is probably, well, red. “I’ll text you the address.”

Changkyun throws his head back a little to say, “Nice!” and laugh, just as the bus comes to a stop. “Goodnight, Kihyunnie,” Changkyun says with a little bow and a smile.

Kihyun blinks as if he’d just woken up from a dream and bows a little, too. “Goodnight!” He fumbles with his wallet as the bus breaks squeak as it pushes forward just a little and stops again. Kihyun winces, “‘Kay, uhm,” he looks between the opening doors and Changkyun and then quickly leans in to kiss his cheek and run inside the bus.

He picks a seat next to the window and throws his tongue out at Changkyun when he looks up at him. But the bus quickly starts moving, so Kihyun waves a little and then lets himself melt over the seat.

He’s happy. But also a little sad. So, he picks up his phone and scrolls all the way down to Shownu’s contact (because he knows he’ll have to call Minhyuk once he gets home) and types;

 

I went on a date today  
It was really nice  
I think I like him a lot  
Shownu  
That’s great, Kihyun!!!  
Also through the site or?  
Minhyuk was going on and on (and on and on…) about a guy you met on MonBebe  
I’m glad it went so well!  
Yeah!!!  
His name is Changkyun  
He’s so pretty!!!!  
And really really funny  
Like, I didn’t feel like I had to put on a facade  
Not when we texted and not when we met  
Although… I didn’t tell him yet…  
About that thing  
Shownu  
Are you worried?  
You know it’s okay to be worried  
But I also don’t think it’ll really be a problem  
Not like HE’S going to become colourblind just bcuz you are or anything  
Did you just make an STD joke?  
Omg  
And no that’s not it… I just…  
Shownu  
LOL no but now that you point it out  
Would be way worse if you had an STD just saying  
I’M CLEAN SHOWNU  
THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!!  
That’s not it though it’s just  
You know it’s a touchy subject for me and I didn’t tell him when I should have  
So…  
He’s an artist  
He makes these beautiful, colourful tattoos and he’s always so excited about it  
Like  
What am I supposed to tell him??  
“Heeeeey it’s all pretty much just grey to me hahahahaha”  
Shownu  
that’s a start, I guess…?  
I know it’s a touchy subject for you so I think just  
Idk if you like him, there must be something in you going  
“Hey, he wouldn’t mind”  
Does he seem like the shallow type?  
Not really no  
But I did kinda lie…  
Shownu  
You lied?  
About?  
Pretending I know whatever the hell I’m seeing when I don’t have a clue  
Shownu  
It’s a personal thing for you, Kihyun  
You’re under no obligation to tell anyone if you don’t want to  
I know… bleh bleh Idk  
I want to tell him, though…  
Because I like him  
If that makes sense???  
But it just keeps  
MOMENTS ARE FLEETING!!!  
Shownu  
lol  
I get it  
But unless you want to tell him, don’t worry  
I’m sure there’s stuff he hasn’t told you either  
Doesn’t mean he’s lying  
Hadn’t thought about it like that…  
I mean!!!  
I do think his art is pretty  
Even if I can’t… see like… the main point lol (colour)  
Shownu  
(I know)  
It’ll be fine, Kihyun  
I’m honestly just glad you found someone you like so much that you’re texting me at  
What time is it even  
But yeah, that  
!!!!!!!  
Thanks!!!!  
I’ll see you soon???  
Shownu  
We’ll go to the noraebang soon  
My vocal chords are rusting  
Can’t have that  
With lots of soju  
To clean that  
Hmu whenever then!!!  
EXCEPT SUNDAY!  
Shownu  
lol noted

 

Sometimes, and these are always Changkyun’s favourites, people want him to design things. They see his designs online or come in and look through his porfolio, have certain requests, but it’s still a way to go absolutely buck-ass wild sketching. Part of why he loves this job is the creative aspect of it, among all the others. He can’t think of another job that would challenge him this much in a field he loves.

Jooheon, though, has been pacing. A lot.

“It’s just one date,” Changkyun laughs, finishing off one of the sketches, and starting another. “And I told you, he’s cute. Haven’t met him but he’s damn photogenic.”

“He’s,” Jooheon pauses, looks at the picture on his phone and groans, “Aish! Way too pretty for me!” He starts pacing again, lips pouty as he clicks his tongue a couple of times.

“For the last time, but probably not,” Changkyun says, squinting at the page and mixing at his watercolour palette. “You’re really pretty, too. And he’s seen a picture of you already and specifically asked for a date. That should say something, right?”

Jooheon pauses to look at the picture on his phone again and pouts some more. “Maybe… But I don’t know. You know how most guys are. I’m not the ‘uhh, talk dirty in the bedroom’ or,” he blushes, “The one who buys everyone drinks. Or… You know!”

Changkyun shakes his head. “What makes you think he’s interested in that kind of stuff, anyway?”

“Isn’t ninety percent of the male population interested in that?”

Changkyun sighs. “Well, go on the date and find out! I don’t think Kihyun would be friends with someone _too_ wild, anyway, so calm down.”

“Hm,” Jooheon walks up to the table and slowly sits next to Changkyun. “What’s he like? Kihyun, I mean.”

“He’s…” Changkyun smiles a little, blowing on the page to let the ink dry before he paints. “Adorable. He’s so excited about everything, you know? I _love_ that. Most people are just like, ‘er, yeah, sure’ and he’s like, ‘yeah! Awesome!’ It’s like a breath of fresh air.”

Jooheon hums for a moment. “You really like him, huh?”

Changkyun huffs a laugh, dips the paintbrush into the purple. “Yeah, I really think I do. It’s _weird_ , and I said this to him, too… Feels like we’ve known each other for ages. We just… clicked. Same sense of humour, all that. And _god,_ ” Changkyun groans, moving the page to help the watercolour move. “ _Such_ a good kisser.”

Jooheon chuckles and leans back in his chair. “So, are you guys going on a second date?”

“Already asked him,” Changkyun grins at Jooheon. “Thinking of surprising him at work, soon, too.”

“Oh?” Jooheon blinks. “What does he do for a living?”

“He’s a cabaret singer,” Changkyun says, reaches for his phone to let the purple dry and show Jooheon the frankly sinful picture Kihyun had sent him of his ‘persona’. “Look at that shit.”

Jooheon squints. “I’m looking… damn, that’s kinda hot,” he mumbles, gestures at his own neck, “The choker with the feather.”

“I know!” Changkyun squeaks, moves his phone back to himself before taking a quick picture of his one finished sketch. “ _Ugh_ , it’s not fair. The _duality_ , etcetera, etcetera.”

 

Hey!!! (Purple Heart )(Purple Heart )(Purple Heart )(Purple Heart )(Purple Heart )(Purple Heart )(Purple Heart )(Purple Heart )  
I need your opinion on something (Eyes )  
Kihyun  
Hello!!!  
Shoot!  
What do you think?   
I need to do some feather designs for a client  
  
[](https://i.pinimg.com/564x/da/24/44/da2444de21b6527aa6ddc472a3ec36ca.jpg)  
Also if you have another pic of Minhyuk  
That’d be great  
I’m hyping Jooheon up rn hehehehe  
Or both of you, really  
I miss your face ;;  
Kihyun  
  
[](https://i.pinimg.com/564x/94/5d/2c/945d2c7476b662a9beb4756f98dafcd5.jpg)  
Exposed  
Also!!!!  
It looks great!  
Is it a feather  
ahaha aw cute  
Are you with him now?  
And yep!! Doing a few different styles.  
That’s mine. I love geometric designs  
Kihyun  
Yeah! I noticed! Like the foxes!!!  
And those hourglasses on your page!  
you’ve been snooooping that’s cute  
And yeah, the hourglasses are my favourite  
Kihyun  
Snoop? I call it research!  
Also  
Yes, I’ve been quizzing Minhyuk but he’s  
Taken to cocoon himself  
He’s got exams soon  
Psychology right?  
Here’s another design I did on the pc earlier  
Simplistic option yknow  
  
[](https://i.pinimg.com/564x/9c/b5/27/9cb527abbc6282d05674ac60e38f9b14.jpg)  
Kihyun  
That’s  
Black and white right?

Changkyun frowns. There’s been something niggling at him, just a bit, when it comes to Kihyun. He asks odd questions, sometimes, says odd things Changkyun can’t really make sense of. But then again, Changkyun’s never been one to pry, so he just… goes with it. But still. It’s odd.

 

Yep!!!  
Kihyun  
I love it  
I think  
That’s my favorite so far  
(Smiling Face With Smiling Eyes ) I’m glad you love it, it’ll be the first one I show her!  
Kihyun  
Also  
Here  
Snatched  
  
[](https://i.pinimg.com/564x/60/75/95/607595f2f99095de5583a4f2d586786b.jpg)  
he doesn’t LOOK like the hellspawn you often describe him as

“Jooheon,” Changkyun laughs, holding out his phone. “Come oooon, you can’t say no to that face.”

Jooheon makes grabby hands at Changkyun’s phone and whines a little as he kicks the floor before slumping back. “Aish! Fine! A date… You can give him my number.”

 

Well that just did it (Eyes )  
Jooheon said yes AND  
Offered his number  
Good job  
He’s being a massive baby btw  
Kihyun  
!!!!!!  
Awwww  
1 sec  
I think  
I’m being  
Strangled  
Kinky  
Kihyun  
Also  
Here  
  
[](https://i.pinimg.com/564x/02/84/37/0284374d221ae22755b1ca6c05289691.jpg)  
(Purple Heart )(Purple Heart )(Purple Heart )(Purple Heart )(Purple Heart )(Purple Heart )(Purple Heart )(Purple Heart )  
A CUTIE  
ON MY PHONE

Changkyun holds his phone out with a pout. “See? What I have to deal with?”

“Oh,” Jooheon quirks an eyebrow up, “He’s got cheeks.”

“When he eats he looks like a hamster, it’s the best thing in my life right now, I swear.”

“Well,” Jooheon chuckles and then sighs, “He sounds… great. I hope this Minhyuk is, well, not the same! But… Good.”

“I’ll pass your number along and you two can chat,” Changkyun says, reaching out to ruffle Jooheon’s hair. “If you really don’t wanna go, that’s okay, too.”

“I know,” Jooheon pouts, reaches for the jellies over the table. “But… he’s pretty so I kinda wanna? But!” He groans. “Ugh! I’m shallow, Kyun. I am weak for pretty boys.”

“Aren’t we all?” Changkyun sighs, opens the chat again.

 

Okay I think I’ve recovered  
Does this mean I owe you a selca? Is this how this works?  
The Law of Equivalent Exchange?  
Kihyun  
You’ve watched FMA???????  
And if you want to  
I shared because you asked?  
But  
If you want?  
FMAB, thank you very much  
But OBVIOUSLY  
Best anime ever  
And hang on lemme see if I can wrangle Jooheon into a selfie  
Kihyun  
Brotherhood!!!!!!!  
I just told Minhyuk  
He approves of you  
Actual tears on my face

“Jooooheoooon,” Changkyun whines. “Take a selfie with meeeeee.”

Jooheon glances up from his pack of jellies, eyes narrowed. “Fine,” he says and takes Changkyun’s phone from his hand. “Get here, we’re doing this Jookyun style.”

“Oh, _boy_ , I love Jookyun style,” Changkyun says, moving his chair over to grin wide at Jooheon.

“Put these on,” Jooheon says, tosses two similar gummies at Changkyun and then puts two on his own cheeks. “Like thiiiiiis!”

Changkyun giggles and slaps the gummies on. “This will paint us in a very accurate, silly light. Take the picture, Joo to my Kyun.”

Jooheon leans back and holds Changkyun’s phone up high. “Smiiiiiileeee!”

Changkyun smiles, and Jooheon takes the picture and Changkyun laughs as Jooheon takes another. Changkyun reaches out for the phone and a gummy falls from his cheek. “Noooo!” He quickly snatches it up and stuffs it in his mouth along with the other one. “Five second rule.”

“Yep,” Jooheon nods and then tries to reach for the gummies on his cheeks with his tongue.

 

That wasn’t so hard actually lol  
  
[](https://66.media.tumblr.com/b7fe1834ad2ec5b9f22d25923631c359/tumblr_p7r1ihLcIG1v3tod4o1_500.jpg)  
[](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/9a/06/46/9a064628f6052384c38bdbe8dabec148.jpg)  
  
Kihyun  
Are those jellies?????  
You’re both silly!  
of course!!! He can be even sillier than I am sometimes lol  
Aka this was his idea  
They’re yummy btw  
omnomnom  
Kihyun  
Minhyuk is making noises like a dying whale right now

Changkyun’s phone buzzes with another chat.

 

Unknown  
AS THANKS FOR THE DATE  
  
[](https://i.pinimg.com/564x/e7/17/38/e717388d2a1cdcd2ca410c1aa9badaf3.jpg)  
[](https://i.pinimg.com/564x/5b/8f/cd/5b8fcdfb1d472bf937b21b39c2043da2.jpg)  
  
A LOST BEAN LOOKING FOR HIS MASTER (ME)  
Hi (Smiling Face With Open Mouth And Smiling Eyes )(Smiling Face With Open Mouth And Smiling Eyes )(Smiling Face With Open Mouth And Smiling Eyes ) I’m Minhyuk  
Stole your number from Ki  
OMG I JUST WANNA HUG HE LOOKS SO LOST  
ALSO HI!!!  
I’m the catfish whassup  
Minhyuk  
The real question is  
Are you fishing or are you being fished (Face With Stuck-Out Tongue And Winking Eye )  
Aka are you the rod or the fish  
Thanks for the date!!  
Your friend looks like a cute lil dumplin I want to squish!  
He is exactly that  
Better treat him right  
I’m watching you

“See? Already threatening your future lover. You’re welcome.”

Jooheon’s cheeks dimple. “A true bro.”

 

Kihyun  
Did you really threaten Minhyuk lmao  
Just the appropriate amount (Face Savouring Delicious Food )  
Please don’t tell him I’m short  
Mention the tattoos and piercings and stuff instead kay  
Kihyun  
How did you know I like to see Minhyuk struggle…?  
LOL intuitive guess  
Kihyun  
Okay  
Imma keep telling him about the piercings and the tattoos  
And about how tall you are  
thank you, thank you (Purple Heart )(Purple Heart )(Purple Heart )  
I drew something for you, btw  
Kihyun  
For me??????  
for yoo  
  
[](https://i.pinimg.com/564x/18/d4/ad/18d4ad81c15f59beb40395e40dabbb13.jpg)  
Kihyun  
Wah!!! So pretty!!!!  
Thank you (Heavy Black Heart ≊ Red Heart)(Heavy Black Heart ≊ Red Heart)(Heavy Black Heart ≊ Red Heart)  
It’s black and white :<   
aaah, yeah, sorry  
I can do something for you in colour if you want??  
Kihyun  
No!!!!!! Nononono!  
You got it wrong  
I love it like this  
Thank you!!!  
well, you said you didn’t have a favourite colour  
so what was I supposed to do lol  
I like it tho  
I’m glad you like it, too (Purple Heart )   
And hey, you still haven’t sent me any tattoo ideas  
Changed your mind?  
Kihyun  
Nope  
And I still want flowers  
I just don’t know what to look for, really  
But maybe next time we’re together you can help me?  
Our date is on Sunday, right??  
yep yep  
Got any ideas for that?  
Arcade was my one and only brilliant date idea I’m afraid  
Kihyun  
HM!!!  
Do you like hotdogs?  
oooooh yeah I haven’t had one in a while, actually  
Kihyun  
Well  
I know a place  
Near Myeongdong Shinsegae Department Store  
And once we’re done we can go up there and just chill  
hotdogs and chill, huh?  
Kihyun  
Well  
It’s got a great view??  
For those who like that kinda stuff  
that kinda stuff, he says

“I am _living_ , right now,” Changkyun laughs.

“Huh?” Jooheon blinks at him. “Why? Were you dead before?”

“Maybe. We’re flirting. I think we’re flirting? I’m teasing him, anyway. _Living_.”

 

Kihyun  
I DIDN’T MEAN ANYTHING WEIRD!!!  
it’s okay if you’re not the kinky type, Kihyunnie~  
Kihyun  
What is that supposed to mean now????  
I’m  
Idk what I am  
”anything weird”  
Kihyun  
Oh boy  
Okay  
FINE  
Two can play at this game!  
we were playing a game? (Astonished Face ) who’s winning?  
Kihyun  
Whoever is on top  
I guess  
idk I think being at the bottom can be pretty rewarding, too  
Depends  
Skill counts  
do you count yourself among the skilled, then?  
I guess you’ll have to find out  
I intend to

Changkyun screams a little into his hands. “Who _am I_ . What have I _become_.”

“The reality of it is a lot harsher,” Jooheon nods even as he keeps his eyes on his phone. “It’s all about the hidden qualities, Kyun.” He glances up. “What are you talking about, though?”

Changkyun holds his phone out without looking up. He’s red all the way up to his ears, he knows it. “Look! Look at what I’ve done!”

Jooheon narrows his eyes and then widens them. “Dude! Did… Did you just…” He looks at Changkyun. “Did you just say you _intend_ to have sex with him?!”

Changkyun rubs his hands down his face, holding his hand out for his phone. “Oh, God, I did, didn’t I.”

 

Kihyun  
Okay

He nearly drops it. “Well!” he squeaks. “I think he just agreed to let me! What the fuck!”

“What?!” Jooheon leans forward. “No! It can’t be that easy to… to… What?!”

“It’s not! Is it?” Changkyun stares at his phone. Does he _reply_ to that? What the fuck does he do now, Mr Bravado? “Oh, god, I have a date with him on Sunday… I’m not gonna get any sleep before then…”

“How do you even _deal?!”_ Jooheon slumps back and squints. “I mean, it’s not like you got into this with that intent. So, how do you go from ‘date’ to ‘sex’? Do _you_ invite him over? Does _he_ invite you over?!”

“I don’t know!” Changkyun squeaks. “I don’t even know what I’m supposed to send now. ‘Thank you’?!”

“Dude! You don’t thank someone for sex, what the fuck! Do you _even_ want to… Have sex with him?” Jooheon makes a face. “These words taint me.”

“Then stop saying them,” Changkyun hisses, sinking back into his chair and staring at the chat. Kihyun knows he’s read the message. There are two little ticks giving him away. No fair. “And I know, okay, I’m just… I do? He’s… really pretty… Ugh, I just don’t wanna fuck this up _already_ …”

“Your choice of words amuses me…”

Changkyun laughs, kicks and hopes it hits him. “Oh, shut up! You know what I mean!”

“Well, why not…” Jooheon clears his throat and shifts in his seat. “Why not just be honest?”

“Pretty sure propositioning someone to try out their topping skills on you is as honest as they come.”

“Yeah,” Jooheon points at Changkyun. “But now you’re scared to, how did you say it, ‘fuck it up’. If you think that’s what will happen if you sleep together, why not be honest about it?”

Changkyun pouts. “You’ve got a point. But then again, I could fuck it up by suddenly backtracking out of it.”

“Then, don’t backtrack. Just make sure you’re both on the same page.”

 

Kihyun  
So uhm  
About  
Tattoo ideas?

Changkyun laughs a little. “He changed the topic… Good sign?”

 

did you have any or are you asking for ideas?

“You took too long to answer, dude,” Jooheon snorts. “He probably thought _he_ fucked up.”

“Oh, no,” Changkyun says softly.

 

Kihyun  
I’ve been checking  
With Minhyuk  
And  
We found pretty things  


Changkyun takes a breath, smacks himself on the cheek. “I’ma do it.”

“Sleep with him?” Jooheon asks.

“Potentially. Lemme just…”

 

You can send it to me if you want!  
And about the thing? We just talked about?  
Great flirting btw we’re doing great at that  
Bravo us  
It’s okay either way…?  
Don’t want you to feel like you have to stick to some  
Idk text banter we had  
But  
Yeah.  
I like you a bunch  
Just don’t wanna do anything that’ll  
I wanna say ‘fuck it up’ lol

“There. Same page. I think.”

Jooheon gives Changkyun a thumbs up. “Good.”

 

Kihyun  
Oh  
For a moment I had no idea where that blabbing was going  
And same I guess?  
Forget about it if it helps  
Anyway!  
Ideas!!!!!  
Go mad!  
Like you’ve seen, I can draw whatever you want lol  
We liked this one  
Well I liked it  
I guess  
  
[](https://i.pinimg.com/564x/ae/be/96/aebe96593273c97b162f17cf635a870a.jpg)  
oooooh that’s pretty  
Yeah I could definitely do that  
Thought you liked black and white tho?  
I do!  
But I guess I want to have a little colour on me  
it fits you (Purple Heart )  
Thank you!  
Can’t wait to see you again  
Yeah, same…  
Thought it would be lame to say ‘I miss you’ already ahaha  
Do you????  
lame answer? yeah  
It’s not lame  
It makes me happy  
Miss you too!

“I am,” Changkyun says, pocketing his phone with a loud heart when he hears the little bell on top of the door signal a walk-in. “Fucked.”

“What? Already?” Jooheon frowns. “Didn’t even leave the chair…”

Changkyun laughs. “From what I’ve heard? I think you and Minhyuk will get along _just_ fine.”

 

 

Changkyunie  
I smell hotfogs  
lol fogs  
HOTDOGS  
But I see no Kihyun…  
I’m here though :<  
What side of the street are you on?  
Changkyunie  
I’ma just start barking till you find me  
Omg what no  
Wait stay put  
What do you see??  
Changkyunie  
WOOF  
Changkyun!!!!!  
Changkyunie  
arf?  
What do you see????  
Changkyunie  
AWOOOOOO  
Jk there’s a giant neon sign that says ‘SEXY LADIES INSIDE’  
I’m tempted  
Ugh what  
Wait  
I think you’re on the other side of the street  
Imma go get you  
Don’t move  
Changkyunie  
I really hope I haven’t been barking and howling outside a strip club…  
Why not  
Wasn’t stripping something you did before haha  
Changkyunie  
that wAS A JOKE  
Was it though  
I wonder  
I think I see you  
Changkyunie  
Neeeear  
Faaaaar  
Whereeeever you aaaare

“Here,” Kihyun says as he jumps over Changkyun’s back, trying not to mind the stares they’re getting the moment he does.

Changkyun yelps as he bends a little under Kihyun’s weight. “We’ve got a rogue one! Halp!”

“Heh,” Kihyun squeezes, arms over Changkyun’s shoulders. He rubs his cheek on Changkyun’s ear. “Missed you.”

Changkyun does an exaggerated full-body shiver, hiking Kihyun up a little and turning his face to kiss at Kihyun’s. “Missed you, too, koala bear.”

Kihyun smiles and points forward. “The treasure is that way!”

Changkyun laughs, does a little wiggle before running off into the indicated direction. “A quest! For the Holy Hot Dog. Fuckin’ better be holy, I can’t remember the last time I ran for anything.”

“See?” Kihyun laughs. “You need me in your life. I make you do things. Healthy things.”

“I think that cancels out the moment I buy the biggest hot dog this place sells,” Changkyun laughs, hiking Kihyun up just a bit more before crossing the street.

“People are looking at us with funny faces,” Kihyun mumbles even as he smiles.

“Look back with even funnier faces.”

“Hm!” Kihyun grins and squeezes some more.

Today is the day. Not any day in specific, just the deadline (Kihyun’s deadline) to tell Changkyun about this little insecurity Kihyun carries around.

Now, all he needs to do is find the right moment. Which can prove itself to be quite complicated. But if, in the end, there’s no moment, Kihyun might as well just randomly bring it up.

“How do you eat your hotdogs?” He asks.

“With my mouth. It helps for digestion,” Changkyun says, bending down to let Kihyun jump off.

“Thank you for that clarification,” Kihyun chuckles, pats at Changkyun’s back and steps in front of him to point at the little stall.

Changkyun laughs. “I like my hot dogs to be the same as I am. Big and cheesy,” Changkyun says, throwing in a wholly unnecessary wink.

Kihyun frowns. “You’re no bigger than I am…”

Changkyun holds his hand up. “This is a dick joke.” And motions it over Kihyun’s head with a whoosh.

Kihyun blinks and his eyes (it’s not necessary, really, but his eyes sometimes just move on their own) kind of drop a little and then some more. He blinks at Changkyun’s crotch. “Oh.”

“Are you--” Changkyun laughs. “ _Really_ doing what I think you’re doing right now?”

Kihyun moves his eyes to something else before he replies with a very strained, very fake, “Nope!” He turns around and starts walking towards the hotdog stall.

Changkyun sighs dramatically. “Ah, too bad we already allocated positions, right?”

“I’m good for seconds if you are,” Kihyun mumbles, feels his face go warm. “Ho--Hotdogs, I mean.” _No. You didn’t mean hotdogs, idiot._

Changkyun laughs, more high pitched than usual, ducking in for a kiss to the cheek. “You’re so _red_. Footlong?”

Kihyun throws his head back and groans. “Ugh! They don’t sell them that big!”

Changkyun cackles. “The best things in life are free. I’m kidding! Pick a hotdog before we die here!”

Kihyun pouts and stops in front of the stall, eyes on the menus displayed. He points at the one in the middle. “I’m getting the chilli one…”

“I really wanna make a hot and spicy joke right now,” Changkyun says with a low whistle as he fishes his wallet out of his pants. “But I digress.” He speaks up, then, polite smile in place at the vendor. “One chilli hotdog and one cheesy russian dog, please!”

“I’m paying for mine,” Kihyun whispers close by.

“Ignoring that, do you want a soda?”

Kihyun fishes the coins from his pockets and shoves his hands into the back pockets of Changkyun’s jeans. _Butt!!!_ “There we go,” he says as he lets the coins fall inside. “A coke, please.”

“Two cokes,” Changkyun squeaks at the vendor before they turn around and he swats at Kihyun’s hands, clearly flustered. “Kihyun!”

Kihyun wiggles his fingers and quirks an eyebrow up. “I felt that…” He teases. “Squishy.”

Changkyun yelps again and turns his body in an attempt to get Kihyun’s hands out of his pockets. “Fiend! Butt grabbing fiend!”

“Shhhh!” Kihyun says and shoves his hands over Changkyun’s mouth.

Changkyun quirks an eyebrow and Kihyun feels something wet press against his palm.

“Ew!” Kihyun jumps a whole meter away and stares at his hand. “You licked me!”

Changkyun cackles. “Rightfully! You and your voyeurism. Tsk.”

“What?” Kihyun looks up. _What does that even mean?!_ At least he managed to deposit a considerable amount of money into those pockets. Should more or less cover the drink as well. Kihyun gets a little closer and cleans his hand on Changkyun’s sweater. “You’re gross.”

Changkyun grins widely like that was a compliment. “Your food,” the vendor says from behind them, and Changkyun quickly turns to fish the coins out of his pockets with a glare over his shoulder at Kihyun, adds a few coins of his own before bowing and offering Kihyun his hotdog and coke.

“I had to do that,” Changkyun grumbles, “Or my butt would have been wiggling with coins the whole night. I’d sound like a maraca.”

“Shake, shake, shake,” Kihyun sing-songs as he walks towards the small bench nearby, sips at his coke. “Hotdogs at five in the afternoon. This is what I call living.”

Changkyun plops down next to him, posture aggressively poor as he nibbles on the bread. “Why? What do you usually eat at night? Healthy stuff?”

“I cook,” Kihyun mumbles before he takes a whole bite. _It’s melting inside my mouth!!!_ He makes a little happy sound.

“Seriously?” Changkyun asks, glancing over. “Huh. You really are perfect, huh?”

Kihyun shoves the food inside his mouth to one side and his cheek puffs. He frowns a little. “I’m really not…”

“Ah, no one is but you sure tick a lot of boxes,” Changkyun chuckles, taking a large bite and melting a little more on the bench, head back in a wordless, ‘ _Ugh, delicious.’_

Kihyun swallows and clears his throat before he takes a sip of his coke. _Can’t even stand too much white light… Can’t even see you like you can see me._ “Is that so?”

“Mhm,” Changkyun hums with a mouth full of food before swallowing, reaching for his coke. “Why, would you like a list?”

Kihyun snorts a laugh and blinks at Changkyun. “There’s a list?”

“More like a random soup of concepts, but I’m sure I could manage a list if you want,” Changkyun laughs.

Kihyun nibbles at his hotdog. “Nah… I’m fine.” He sighs and leans back a little, legs straight so he can see his sneakers. They’re white. He knows that because he can barely discern the outlines. He glances up, then, though, and his brain loses itself a little. _Colour._ “Hey…”

Changkyun looks over, cheek puffed with food. “Mm?”

Kihyun blinks at him and smiles a little. “Enjoying that, are you?”

“Mmm!” Changkyun responds, looks up and his eyes widen a little, arm lifting to smack at Kihyun a little as he clearly does effort to chew faster to swallow. “Hey, I have an idea! There’s a hill over there, we can climb it, go look at the sunset and be all sappy and gay. Great, right?” Changkyun says, quickly getting up and tossing the hotdog wrapper in the bin next to the bench, grabbing his coke and Kihyun’s hand. “Come on, before we miss it!”

Kihyun huffs a laugh. “‘Kay.” And gets up. “You… You like sunsets?”

Changkyun tugs him along. It’s not a run, but they’re not strolling either. “It’s all the colours I like to use for my art, up there in the sky, ‘course I love it.”

“I see,” Kihyun smiles small. And well, it’s something people always talk about. But something Kihyun has never been able to enjoy. Because he can’t look at the sun without seeing a gigantic blotch of white that blinds him. And the sky always looks the same. No matter how many hues people speak of, Kihyun always sees grey. “Let’s go then!”

 

 

When they get to the top of the hill, the sky is mostly purple. There’s pinks and oranges melting into it, but it’s soft, flows a bit like the watercolours Changkyun loves so much. His heart is beating a bit faster from the slight run they’d done to get here, and he finishes the last of his coke at an impressive rate before tossing it into the nearest bin. There’s no bench, just grass, green and soft as Changkyun plops down onto it, lies down on his back for a moment to catch his breath.

“Cardio,” he mumbles. “Need to… invest in cardio…”

Kihyun laughs a little and then slurps at his coke until it makes a noise before he tosses it into the bin. “You’ve been doing a lot of exercise today.” He says as he sits down next to Changkyun.

“I should tell Hoseok, he’ll like you immediately,” Changkyun laughs, sitting up, eyes on the horizon. “Always trying to get me to eat green shit. Rabbit food, I say.”

Kihyun keeps looking at him though. “So, if I cook greens for you, you won’t eat them?” He tilts his head and smiles a little.

Changkyun narrows his eyes. “Depends. Is it tasty? How much clothes are you wearing?”

“Oh?” Kihyun grins. “So, you’re into that. Buttnaked and apron?”

Changkyun sighs wistfully, leaning back onto his hands with a smile. “Ah, the life,” he jokes.

“Hm,” Kihyun looks up at the sky and smiles a little sad before sighing and letting himself fall back.

Changkyun frowns, falls back, too. “Again with the sighing…” he moves a little closer, pouts. “You okay? You don’t have to lie.”

Kihyun looks at him and smiles. “I’m great!” He wiggles closer and bumps their foreheads. “Was just thinking… I don’t know about buttnaked. But I can do boxers and apron.” He sticks his tongue out.

“Promises, promises,” Changkyun laughs a little, eyes flicking down to Kihyun’s tongue. So pink.

Kihyun takes Changkyun’s hand and shifts closer, point up at the sky. “So… What do you see?”

“The sky?” Changkyun asks with a little frown. Again with the odd questions. He looks away to look at the sky and shrugs. “Light refraction causing different hues in the atmosphere.”

“What… What colours do you see?” Kihyun asks, voice small. And when Changkyun looks at him, Kihyun is looking up, eyes a little misty. It makes something in Changkyun’s chest tug a little, enough to make him lift himself up on one elbow to look at Kihyun, reach out for his cheek.

“Hey… Look at me?”

Kihyun blinks and then his eyes shift to Changkyun’s face. “Hm?”

There’s a semblance of a theory in Changkyun’s head, but he won’t ask, it’s not his place.

So, Changkyun just smiles, thumb soft on Kihyun’s cheek. “Are you about to tell me you’re a serial killer or something?”

Kihyun snorts a laugh. “What? No!” He laughs and rolls a little closer to Changkyun when he does. “Where did that come from?”

“I don’t know,” Changkyun huffs a laugh. “Just thinking off all the possible things you could say that would make me think you’re any less amazing. Serial killer is the top one, I guess.”

Kihyun bites both lips in, eyes turning to crescents. “Hm. Glad to know you’re not one of those,” Kihyun makes a chopping motion with his arm, “ _Oh, they just killed that guy, cut him in half and made art, I’m in lurve!”_

Changkyun laughs. “God, no! I prefer--well, you know my type, you live it every day.”

Kihyun rolls his eyes and smiles, eyes shifting to look at the sky. “You still haven’t answered me. What colours do you see when you look up?”

 _Odd_. “Purple, pink, orange, light blue… They’re soft. It’s nice.” Changkyun frowns, turns to look at Kihyun. “Why..?”

“Because…” Kihyun blinks and takes a breath. “I just see… grey.” He frowns and blinks again, like he’s trying not to cry.

“Oh,” Changkyun says, frown going slack. _That…_ Oh. “Kihyun, are you… colourblind?”

“Achromatopsia,” Kihyun says, licks his lips and takes another breath, eyes shifty on the sky. “It’s a very rare autosomal recessive disorder.” He huffs a laugh. “And that means that you always need two copies of the same, stupid, abnormal gene present for the disease to develop.” He glances at Changkyun. “I suffer from total colour blindness.”

“So…” Changkyun blinks. He’s… Processing. He knows about it, obviously, but total colour blindness and just not being able to differentiate between red and purple is a _big_ gap. “What, just black, white, grey?”

Kihyun bites at his lower lip, hand reaching up to fumble with a line on Changkyun’s sweater. Kihyun stares at it as he speaks. “When I was little, the teachers called my parents to school. I was always a bit weird. My parents thought I was,” he laughs, “ _late._ Because I just wouldn’t get red and blue in the right places. But… Yeah, my kindergarten teachers told my parents I needed to go see someone as soon as possible. Because of the colours I was using in my artworks.” He shrugs one shoulder. “Apparently, painting grass in red makes you Satanic.” He snorts a little and smiles small, and Changkyun just squeezes at Kihyun’s hand to show he’s listening. “The psychologist my parents took me to told them to take me to a doctor. Some eye specialist, I guess. And… That’s when I learned that the colours I was seeing were monochrome. They go between black and white. A bunch of different greys that I get mixed up. And I’m also slightly, more than slightly, actually, photophobic. When there’s too much light, I just see white all over and it hurts my eyes…”

Changkyun’s, honestly, not sure how to handle this. Not because he thinks any lesser of Kihyun, but because he knows what the wrong word at the wrong time can do to someone.

“So the sky hurts your eyes?” he asks, then, voice small like he was finding it somewhere, unused.

“Only when the sun is up,” Kihyun says. “It’s fine if I don’t look up. Hit a lamppost once. Don’t recommend. Sturdiest thing, I swear.”

Changkyun laughs softly, leans forward to kiss softly at Kihyun’s cheek. “Okay. Close your eyes and I’ll try again…”

Kihyun blinks and smiles small, eyes on Changkyun’s face. “You’re… not mad at me?”

“What?” Changkyun asks in honest surprise. “Why would I be mad at you?”

“Because I didn’t tell you when you kept asking me about… Well, the colours in your art…”

Changkyun huffs a small laugh, shakes his head. “It’s okay. You still liked it, even if you couldn’t see the colours. It’s nice to think you saw it so differently but still appreciated it…”

Kihyun’s eyes water again but he blinks it away and sniffles once before closing his eyes. “Okay. Eyes closed.”

Changkyun smiles for a moment, an odd heaviness in his chest before he glances up at the sky but keeps his eyes on Kihyun when he talks, plays with his fingers. “What I see… Is the scent of lavender,” Changkyun starts. “But not too much, like when you walk into your grandmother’s house and there’s just _so_ much potpourri you wanna _die_ ,” Changkyun chuckles and Kihyun huffs a laugh. “I see… Warmth mixed with cold. The little bit of blue the sky leaves behind to mix with the rest.”

“So, like…” Kihyun tilts his head a little, eyes still closed. “When you’re all warm at home but you have to walk out the door in the middle of winter?”

“Kind of, yeah,” Changkyun smiles. “Or when you’re all warm and cuddled in bed and then somebody presses their cold ass feet against you. You’ll learn about that soon, promise,” Changkyun laughs, glances up again. “I see… The sky slowly turning darker. But it’s not black, it’s more like… The difference between chocolate and dark chocolate, when you taste it, like there’s just a little more.” He takes a small breath when he looks back to Kihyun. “And recently I see yellow. It’s, like… When you go outside and you can feel the sun on your skin, that’s yellow. That clean smell of citrus after cleaning something, that’s yellow. When you laugh so much your stomach hurts, or when someone you like touches you and it makes your chest go all warm… It’s one of the brightest colours. You can’t look at it and not be happy. And that’s you. You’re my yellow.”

Kihyun opens his eyes and blinks at Changkyun. Kihyun’s lips seem a little pouty but he smiles. “I’ve never seen purple but… When I think of purple, lately. I think of you. So… I guess I know what you mean.”

Changkyun flushes a little as he laughs, brings Kihyun’s hand up to feel his cheek. “There. That’s what pink feels like. You asshole.”

Kihyun gasps. “You can’t say cute things and then call me an asshole!” He presses his hand hard against Changkyun’s face. “You asshole!”

“You made me blush!” Changkyun laughs, too, feels _yellow_ spreading through his chest.

“Ugh,” Kihyun keeps shoving at Changkyun until Changkyun is lying down and Kihyun manages to get on top of him and straddle him. He pins Changkyun’s wrists over his head and stares at him. “Come on, call me an asshole again. I _dare_ you.”

Changkyun looks up at him, a little wide-eyed. “Well, _this_ took a significant turn.”

Kihyun sticks his tongue out and then lets Changkyun go and sits up. “So… Can we still go on dates?”

Changkyun quirks an eyebrow. “Listen, just because you can’t _see_ that I’m blushing my face off doesn’t mean I’m not. You are sitting on top of me. Why the hell would I say no?”

Kihyun smiles and glances away. “Well… I once had a nystagmus episode mid date? You could say they were freaked out.” He looks at Changkyun and points at his own eyes. “Involuntary eye movement. It happens when I’m tired. Apparently it’s a colour blindness thing. And…” He shrugs. “Some other time a guy said, ‘Oh wow, that’s so fucked up’...” He shakes his head. “I’m not telling you this so you can feel sorry for me. It’s just… I’m used to it getting in the way… Besides, sometimes it hurts, too. When people just… act stupid.”

“What, like, try to pretend colours don’t exist for your benefit or something?” Changkyun frowns. “That’s dumb.”

“That. Or…” Kihyun sighs. “When I was in high school my classmates thought it was fun to mess up my decorum. So, like, I invited them over and they went over my drawers and changed the notes I had with colour descriptions? So, I walked to class looking like a clown for three days.”

“What the fuck,” Changkyun says, sitting up a little with a frown. “Do you know where I can find them? Would happily punch at least one of them…”

Kihyun laughs and shrugs, looks at Changkyun. “That’s why I didn’t want to tell you right away… But… then I kind felt like I wanted to. So, yeah,” he gestures dismissively. “It’s out there. My life is a whole old movie.”

“And that’s fine,” Changkyun smiles. “At least it’s not in French, right? God, what a nightmare that would be…” Changkyun teases, shoves a little at him. “Seriously, it’s fine. That you didn’t tell me, that you are what you are, seriously, it’s fine.”

“Yeah… Still,” Kihyun sighs, pokes at Changkyun’s chest, right over his sternum. “Sometimes, I really, really wish I could see them… And it’s so weird because I can’t even imagine them. Even my dreams are in black and white.”

“Aren’t there, like, those glasses? I know it’s a new thing and to be honest, I barely know anything about it, but can’t they help?”

“Only in cases of red-green colour blindness. Or blue-yellow.” Kihyun shrugs. “But they did announce something a while back. They’re trying to make both glasses and contacts. Don’t know if it’ll work, but… It’s…” Kihyun winces a little. “Expensive.”

“Hey,” Changkyun says then, with the cheeriest smile he has, hands up to squish at Kihyun’s cheeks. _Ugh, cheeks_. “We’ll get ‘em. If there’s something that can make you see colour, nothing’s gonna stop me. You hear me? I’ll run around naked with a bucket labelled ‘clothing fund’ or something, I don’t give a shit.”

Kihyun laughs loud, voice going so high it barely sounds like him. He seems to lose all remaining strength as he laughs, too, because he plops over Changkyun and just keeps laughing. “Oh, god…”

“What?” Changkyun laughs, arms coming up to squish him close. “Enjoying that mental image, are you?”

“Maybe…” Kihyun laughs and then it bubbles into a chuckle before it quiets down. Kihyun rubs his face over Changkyun’s sweater. “Also, dirting your clothes with my makeup. And kinda falling in love with you…”

“That’s okay, I can just wash--” Changkyun’s brain catches up to him, and he’s pretty sure his heart does a _thing_. So loud he’s pretty sure Kihyun can hear it, too. “Er. What was… what was that last thing again..?”

Kihyun moves over Changkyun a little until they’re face to face. Kihyun’s wavy brown hair is kind of falling over his eyes, a little red from crying. And his cheeks are pink. But he smiles and boops their noses. “I said… I think I’m falling in love with you.”

Changkyun’s head spins a little, like he’s on a damn rollercoaster. And that’s okay, isn’t it? Sometimes things take time and sometimes things just feel right. He could overthink it, wonder if he’s making the right decisions, but that’s the whole point, isn’t it? The right decisions. Maybe not the usual ones or the smart ones or the ones people will approve of, hell, even he would approve of, but the _right_ ones. The ones that make him smile, the ones that lead to a road he feels he’s already been walking on, anyway.

“Good,” Changkyun says, a little breathless, a little smile on his face. “Because I think I’m falling in love with you, too…”

Kihyun’s face lights up and all Changkyun can think of is ‘yellow’. “Bright,” Kihyun says and lets his face fall on Changkyun’s chest again. He nuzzles in. “So bright…”

The sky turns to night and Changkyun’s eyes and chest and whole fucking body feel so damn overwhelmed. Maybe that’s why it usually takes longer, why it should. So it doesn’t feel like a whole sun being trapped inside a box. But then he plays with Kihyun’s hair between his fingers as they breathe in tandem, and the silence is so comfortable Changkyun wants to cry.

“You realise,” Changkyun says after a while, voice a little thick. “That I’m going to have to tell my friend his stupid app actually works… I’ll never live this down.”

Kihyun laughs against Changkyun’s chest. He raises his head to look at Changkyun. And it’s strange, to imagine what the world must look like through Kihyun’s eyes. To imagine what it’s like to not know colour.

“Tell me what you see,” Changkyun asks, then.

“Hm,” Kihyun props himself up and looks at Changkyun’s face. “Your eyes look… black to me. But they also look really kind.” He looks up at Changkyun’s hair. “When I look at your hair, though, I don’t think ‘black’. I just think ‘soft’. Because it looks really soft. And…” His eyes drop to Changkyun’s lips and then go up to his eyes again. “It’s like your skin is a blank sheet with things drawn all over the place. Things and people have… texture. Not colour. Smells. Sounds.” Kihyun smiles. “I really like your voice.”

“Well,” Changkyun laughs a little, warm in his chest all the way up to his ears. “That’s my ego fed for today… I thank you.”

“It’s why I like touching,” Kihyun smiles. “Because texture.”

Changkyun smiles, glancing up at his hand still playing with Kihyun’s hair. “Like… soft?”

Kihyun seems to hesitate for a moment. But then he shifts his weight all to one arm and slowly brings his other hand up to softly trail his thumb over Changkyun’s neck. “Smooth.”

Changkyun shivers a little. “By far the oddest seduction technique I’ve heard of, but hey, it works…”

Kihyun huffs a laugh and slowly plops back down, squishes his cheek on Changkyun’s chest. “Gotta work with what I have, no?” He pauses. “Say, for my tattoo? Can I pick the colours? You don’t have to tell which ones I’m picking.”

Changkyun nods, smiles. “Yeah. ‘Course you can. And I won’t say a word.”

“Thank you, Kyunie.” Kihyun whispers. And Changkyun can feel him melting over him.

“I take it you’ll say yes to a third date, then..?” Changkyun smiles, chin down as he tries to look at Kihyun. It’s not his most flattering angle, but fuck it.

Kihyun glances up. “I was thinking we could…” He shifts and props himself up again. His cheeks are pink, even in the dim light. “If you want, of course… You could… come over? And I can cook for us… And we can watch movies.”

“Only if I can come a bit early to help?” Changkyun prompts. “I like cooking I’m just… Not great on my own, hah.”

Kihyun smiles wide. “I’ll teach you!” He leans over in excitement. “Can you come next weekend?”

“I don’t have any plans, no,” Changkyun grins, tongue between his teeth. He reaches up then to poke at the tip of Kihyun’s nose. He doesn’t know why, really. Just… felt like it.

Kihyun blinks at him but keeps on smiling. “I can swap Saturday for Wednesday. That way we’ll have matching a weekend.”

“Ah, so you’ll be working this Wednesday?” Changkyun asks, as casually as he can.

“Yeah, I suppose.”

“Okay,” Changkyun smiles, leans forward just to brush their lips together before plopping down onto the grass again.

Kihyun tilts his head and leans a little closer. “Why?”

“Just so I don’t bother you when you’re working.” _Lie. I’m showing up with a wallet full of cash, and nothing on this sweet, slowly dying planet can stop me_.

“Okay,” Kihyun says and then pecks Changkyun’s lips once and then twice before kissing him for real.

This is what was missing. In all those botched attempts at a relationship with someone who looked good on paper, maybe, but it’s _this_ . The way everything feels natural and despite that, the kisses still make Changkyun’s head spin a little. So Changkyun kisses him back on a hill under the stars, and takes his time, because somehow, he knows that’s what they’ll have.

 

 

HEY GUESS WHAT (Grinning Face With Smiling Eyes )(Grinning Face With Smiling Eyes )(Grinning Face With Smiling Eyes )(Grinning Face With Smiling Eyes )(Grinning Face With Smiling Eyes )  
Kihyun  
What????????  
those feather designs???  
The girl chose the one you liked, the simple b&w one  
I just finished tattooing it  
Kihyun  
Really?????!!!!  
Ahhhhh why does that make me happy!!!  
lol you can see why I do this for a living now right  
Kihyun  
Yeah  
You’re still at work?  
I’m waiting for Minhyuk  
He went on that date with Jooheon today  
like I wasn’t there for the pre-date freaking out...  
Heard anything from them?  
It’s been radio silence on my end   
but Joo usually doesn’t go on his phone when he’s out so  
Kihyun  
Why do I find that oddly cute  
We also don’t go on our phones when we’re together thouuuugh  
you’re like the only person I text this much lol  
So there wouldn’t be any point to it would there~  
Kihyun  
True enough  
And same  
But Idk you could spend a lot of time on Twitter or Instagram  
Whatever people use nowadays  
I didn’t say Facebook because that’s the parents and grandparents’ website now  
ahahaha honestly the only reason I still have it is so my family don’t think I’m dead  
I only post the tattoos on instagram  
Otherwise it’s just pictures of Hoseok being Hoseok  
Big arms @ gym followed by a fluffy bunny picture  
I can’t keep up Kihyun  
You say that like you don’t appreciate the big arms  
Listen, I appreciate them  
That’s hard fuckin work put into those puppies  
But also  
Eeeehhhhhhhhhhhhh  
Not my type  
Glad Hyungwon likes it so much tho  
Kihyun  
They probably look funny next to each other  
  
[](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/59/15/1b/59151b8b5ab85e16ea39fc2cdd27a451.png)  
Look at this shit  
Kihyun  
That arm is…  
Both my legs  
Maybe an arm in the mix  
Mood  
You have nice legs tho  
Those boyfriend jeans??  
Noice  
But yeah they do sometimes look a bit funny next to each other lol  
But in a cute way cos Hyungwon’s taller than him  
Kihyun  
You’ve been looking at my legs???  
Nice  
Didn’t notice.  
You haven’t met him yet, dummy~  
Probably will when you come see my  
Idk whether to call it my Business or my Place  
Place eludes to home  
Mmm  
But yeah, that  
Kihyun  
Which reminds me  
Are we still on for this weekend?  
I asked for that Saturday  
We better be  
Wouldn’t miss it for the world  
What’ll we be cookin, good lookin’?  
Kihyun  
Do you have a favorite food?  
might be the american in me talking but  
[drool] steeeeeeak  
Kihyun  
Hm  
I might be able to arrange something  
America style then? With the butter melting on top??  
hnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn keep talking  
Kihyun  
Annnnd the steeaaaaam  
And the fizzzzzzlee  
PORN  
THIS IS PORN  
CEASE  
Kihyun  
Wink  
Oh they’re here  
Gimme a min  
Okey~  
Hyungwon says hi  
I am suspicious  
[](https://data.whicdn.com/images/317903344/large.jpg)  


“What are you so smiley about anyway?” Changkyun asks, grabbing one of the chocolate bars at the counter. It’s his place, he can eat the damn Mars Bar if he wants to.

“No reason,” Hyungwon sighs and glances over. “And you? Oddly cheery today as well.”

Deciding on: obnoxious, Changkyun does a spin before leaning against the counter with a dreamy sigh. “I’m in _love_ , Hyungwon.”

Hyungwon seems to freeze up for a second and then frowns at Changkyun. “For real?”

Changkyun shrugs, opening the wrapper and biting off a piece of chocolate. “Maybe,” he says with his mouth full. “Potentially.”

“What’s different this time?” Hyungwon asks, eyes shifting to the front door.

Changkyun narrows his eyes. “What do you mean?” Changkyun asks, thinking he knows what Hyungwon meant but wanting to poke at him a bit more.

Hyungwon frowns some more. “What’s so special about this?” He glances over. “Weren’t you the one acting all skeptical? Because it’s an app.”

Changkyun sighs, then. “That’s the worst part isn’t it? I have to tell Hoseok his app worked. Honestly, though?” Changkyun takes a small bite. “It’s like… I don’t know, he makes me happy. When you know, you know, right?”

“I suppose,” Hyungwon trails off and then sighs loudly, a tad over dramatic this one, sometimes. “If he makes you happy then…” He glances at Changkyun again. “If he breaks your heart, warn him. I’m coming for his ass.” He throws a thumb over his shoulder. “I have a buffed Wonho. Even though he wouldn’t hurt a fucking fly, but lover boy doesn’t know that.”

Changkyun pouts. “Aw, it’s so nice when you get all protective,” Changkyun pouts some more. “Reminds me that there’s a beating heart in there… Somewhere.”

“Ah,” Hyungwon looks up at the ceiling, kind of expressionless. “I might have ended the last roll of toilet paper. Thought you might want to go buy some.”

“And he’s back,” Changkyun laughs, shaking his head and turning to walk back into his work area. “At least give me time to miss you!”

“Just thought I’d warn you before you found yourself in a strange predicament.”

“What do I pay you for, honestly,” Changkyun laughs to himself, plopping down in his chair.

“To look pretty and attract clientele.”

“Then go buy toilet paper and talk the cashier into a tattoo!”

Hyungwon sighs. “Ah, about that! My legs hurt.”

“Absolutely useless,” Changkyun sighs dramatically. “When’s the next appointment? I’ll fucking go. Wanted banana milk anyway. And no, you’re not getting any.”

“And then I’m the one without a heart,” Hyungwon sighs again. “Then next one is in forty five minutes give it or take.”

 

Kihyun  
Heeeeey!!!  
Look!!!!  
  
[](https://i.pinimg.com/564x/df/fe/a2/dffea25c42ac78ae170a26f101635ab9.jpg)  
Met one of your friiiiiiiieeeeeeennnndddsss  
(Astonished Face )(Astonished Face )(Astonished Face )(Astonished Face )(Astonished Face )  
THAT’S SO ODD TO SEE BUT I LOVE IT  
Two worlds colliding or some shit  
Kihyun  
That’s a really good song  
Worlds Collide, by Nicki Taylor  
I’ll look into it!!!  
So (Eyes ) what do you thiiiiiiiiink???  
About Joohoney?  
Kihyun  
He’s a shy, polite bean!  
I love him  
He’s cute!!!!  
And Minhyuk is WHIPPED  
???(Astonished Face )  
Seriously???  
Kihyun  
He’s making plans ahead, Kyunie  
He never plans ahead  
It’s usually people begging for his attention  
Like the attention whore he is with a pride bigger than [redacted]  
But!!!   
He’s planning ahead!  
THAT’S!!!!   
Does jooheon look all heart eyes too???  
My heart can’t take this I swear…  
Kihyun  
Idk!! But I hope so!!  
He laughs at Minhyuk’s jokes! Like  
He laughed really loud earlier, it was unexpected  
And it wasn’t that funny. But they keep smiling  
It’s gross  
AND THERE’S EYE CONTACT!!!!  
I’m emo  
Don’t touch me I’ll cry  
MINHYUK NEEDS TO CALL HIM PRETTY!!!  
Kihyun  
He has!!!  
So did I  
And he went all smiley and shy  
It was adorable  
He made aegyo for us!!!!  
How come he acts like this and then raps like that  
you’ve heard his rap??  
And yeah it’s fucking insane idk how he does it  
Kihyun  
Minhyuk insisted he showed me  
He’s really good!  
I’ll bring you with to one of his underground thingies once, you’ll love it  
Kihyun  
Really?????????  
!!!!!!!!!!  
You’re the best!  
and I’m a puddle on the pavement  
Take responsibility, people might slip and die  
Kihyun  
I’ll come collect you!  
Jk jk  
I need to go home and get ready for work soon  
But  
(Heavy Black Heart ≊ Red Heart)(Heavy Black Heart ≊ Red Heart)(Heavy Black Heart ≊ Red Heart)(Heavy Black Heart ≊ Red Heart)(Heavy Black Heart ≊ Red Heart)(Heavy Black Heart ≊ Red Heart)  
There  
gonna wear that choker with the feather on it again?  
Kihyun  
And  
L  
E  
A  
T  
H  
E  
R  
Yeah, now I’m just teasing  
kjhgfdsafghbjnm  
I’M IN A SHOP BUYING TOILET PAPER YOU CAN’T DO THIS TO ME  
Kihyun  
Leather pants, Kyunie  
Leather pants  
can puddles drool??  
Cos that seems to be happening rn  
Kihyun  
Good thing you’re buying toilet paper then  
To soak you in nicely  
you’re an evil man, Yoo Kihyun  
I will get my revenge  
One day  
Kihyun  
I’m sure you will (Heavy Black Heart ≊ Red Heart)  
In any case, talk later and have fun at work, baby (Purple Heart )

Changkyun drops the toilet paper. “How do I unsend?!”

“What kind of face is that?” Hyungwon asks suddenly, from behind the counter, as Changkyun walks in. “It’s like you can’t decide between taking a shit or throwing up…”

“I just,” Changkyun stares at his phone in abject horror. “Called Kihyun ‘baby’. _Why did I do that?!_ ”

Hyungwon cackles. _Asshole._ He keeps laughing and clapping and laughing. “Ah! You!” He wheezes. “Your face!”

Changkyun bends to pick up the toilet paper and throw it at Hyungwon. “You are no help!”

Hyungwon nods, chuckling with a smug smile. “Now you just have to roll with it.”

“Guess I will, then,” Changkyun mumbles to himself, walking back to his workroom. One more client and then he’s promised himself he’ll go to Kihyun’s work. Not be a damn coward. Even if it… quite literally kills him. He smacks at his cheek and sits with his sketchbook, waits for the client to arrive, phone on silent. Even if the thing vibrates while Changkyun’s doing this tattoo, he really might just jump and fuck it all up, so… Maybe not.

“Are the two of you dating?” Hyungwon asks from the door, smile a lot smaller but still there. “Or are you just figuring it out?”

“We’re…” Changkyun says, staring at his drawing. “Going on dates. Haven’t… made anything official yet.”

 _‘I think I’m falling in love with you’_.

Then there’s that, of course.

“Looking forward to meeting this not official boyfriend of yours, then.”

 

 

No messages yet. And that’s fine. Not like he called Kihyun ‘baby’ and now he’s going to show up at his work. No biggie whatsoever.

“So why are my damn palms sweating,” Changkyun grumbles, wiping his hands on his jeans. Ripped jeans, to be precise. Is there a dress code for this kind of place? He walks, following the directions on his phone until he turns a corner and sees the red neon lights dressing the words ‘RED ROOM’. For some reason, it makes him laugh.

 _‘Red sounds and looks angry to me,’_ Kihyun had said. _‘Then again, so does blue. And green. Ah! They all look the same!’_

The place doesn’t look shady. But there’s something uncanny about a really bright, red door, bordered by red neon lights in the middle of, well, normal-looking houses.

Obviously, there’s someone at the door who casually asks Changkyun for his ID and then gives him a short nod without even looking at him. He knocks at the door for Changkyun, though, and someone opens it from the inside.

True enough, the whole place is… red. Red ambience lights that light up red velvet chair and a red carpeted floor adorned in golds. First impression? Cosy in a strange way. The bar has a few empty stools. And, as Changkyun walks further in, the room opens into a slightly bigger room, with small dark tables surrounded by more velvet chairs, people conversing lowly as someone, an old, really cool-looking man plays on a beautiful electric guitar that reads ‘Gibson’ Les Paul.

“Can I help you?” A young man in a bowtie asks him with a polite smile, hands behind his back.

 _This shit is too fancy for my emo ass_.

“Uhm, yes,” Changkyun says with a small bow. _Why_. “Is there a performer here called Kihyun..?”

The young man blinks. “And who’s asking?”

 _Not his boyfriend, nope, noooope._ Changkyun hopes he doesn’t look as awkward as he feels. “I’m a friend of his, he gave me this address and said he’d be working tonight...”

“Well,” the young man brings his arms forward, one by Changkyun’s arm without touching him as he guides Changkyun to the bar. “May I get you a drink?”

Changkyun finds himself missing the times in slightly run-down clubs, having to nearly stand on a counter and yell for any sort of hope at a drink. Good times.

“A bottle of suju, please. If you, er, have it.” _I might need it_.

The young man smiles and leads Changkyun to one of the stool as he gestures vaguely at the barman. He orders for Changkyun’s drink and then smiles at him. “I can’t divulge the kind of information you seek unless you’re an official authority. _But_ I can tell you to, mayhaps, wait for a bit and enjoy a drink while you do.” The young man tilts his head a little and smiles.

Did this man go to butler school or something? What the fuck. “Thank you,” Changkyun smiles back. This is, like... five boat rides and a train away from Changkyun’s comfort zone. The barman puts a bottle in front of Changkyun, a small glass (it looks iced, what the fuck) and smiles politely before moving on. Changkyun glances around, quickly fills the glass and throws it down his throat.

He winces at the burn but nods. Yeah, much better already.

There’s a black piano on stage. And the cool-looking man keeps playing, keeps making interesting faces while he plays, too. _What do people call this type of music..?_ Blues?

But then it’s over. People clap and Changkyun fumbles a little when he realizes he needs to clap as well. The man on stage stands up, smiles as he mouths a few ‘thank you’s and bows and then walks out.

“Would you like something to eat?” The barman asks as he polishes a glass with a cloth he throws over his shoulder when he places the glass down.

Changkyun blinks himself back to reality, nods. “Whatever you’d recommend, I’m not finicky,” Changkyun smiles, reaches up to brush his fringe a little more in front of his piercing. He feels so oddly self-conscious.

The barman chuckles, a soft little thing, “You seem nervous. So, how about cheetos?”

Changkyun huffs a laugh. “You guys have that..? Are they covered in caviar or something?”

“If you want,” the barman smiles, toothy. “Though I doubt your taste buds will appreciate that combination.” He moves something around behind the counter and then places a small bowl of cheetos next to Changkyun’s drink. “On the house.”

Changkyun laughs again. “Damn, I thought you were kidding… Thanks, man.”

“Our policy is comfort. Doesn’t matter your roots. As long as you have the money to pay for what you ask, anyone is welcome. Of course,” the barman leans in a winks as he whispers. “If we sense a bit of cash, we will offer the expensive experience.”

Changkyun narrows his eyes, amused. “You guys already look like a brothel, I wouldn’t put that on a sign or anything...”

“Can be arranged, too, if that’s why you’re here.”

 _Say what now_. “Er,” Changkyun leans back, huffs another laugh. “Not exactly, but good to know, thanks.”

“What’s on stage is not for sale, though.” The barman points up. “But given the right call, and the right amount of money, there’s a whole division upstairs for that.”

Changkyun can’t tell if the guy’s just messing with him, but then again, it’s… fine. “Oh,” he just says, then, takes a single cheeto and noms.

The stage lights dim a little, turn red and some a little violet, and a woman in a tight, glittery red dress that falls down all the way to her ankles walks in. Her hair is blonde, unnaturally blonde, and her lips are painted in a bright red, too.

She walks towards the microphone at the edge of the stage and taps one finger on it once, smiles at the little bump everyone hears, one legs coming from under the dress through the cut that seems to come all the way up to her waist.

Changkyun was so busy looking at her and the way she fills the stage, he didn’t even notice the piano, open, keys showing. And true enough, a red choker with a silver chain and a feather, a black, loose blouse that looks nothing like what Changkyun has seen Kihyun wear before, and leather pants.

Among all the things Kihyun hadn’t told Changkyun about his job, the piano was one of them.

It… Makes sense. Black and white keys that can bring forth the most beautiful sounds. Sounds from happy to sad, like a spectrum of colours.

And it starts, slow, small, like testing a border. It’s jazzy, it’s cosy, it makes Changkyun think of a warm cup of coffee while looking through a window of a coffee shop and seeing the cars move over wet pavement.

It’s just a piano. Yet, Changkyun has always thought, that out of all the instruments people play, the piano is the only one with a soul.

And then the woman hums, a velvety voice that adorns words Changkyun can’t quite understand until he realizes it’s not Korean, it’s English. So, his brain flips floppy disks like it needs to catch up. And as she sings, people just keep staring at her. Even the barman keeps his eyes on her. Until another voice come in, softly from behind, a little hum that quickly builds up to sing with her in a different key, maybe a slightly different note (or whatever musicians call it). And it’s… so, so full of feeling. Slow but passionate. Reminds Changkyun of those old vinyl disks his father owns from way, way before Changkyun was even thought of.

And suddenly, the drums (there were drums on stage?! Since when?), just a soft hit of plates to keep a rhythm. The girl picks the microphone and gracefully steps down from the stage as she starts walking around in between the tables. The piano’s melody comes to an end as the girl keeps and Kihyun keep singing. But then Kihyun takes his microphone to stand where the girl was before.

Changkyun thinks the word he’s looking for is ‘transfixed’.

Kihyun doesn’t look like he usually does, full of colour and bright little smile, crescent moon eyes and bubbly aura. He looks polished, serious (but still expressive as his eyebrows move as he sings), monochrome, tall, gaze that could probably cut through steel.

The girl sits at one of the tables, next to a man who slides a tip over the table as she smiles at him, tilts her head and keeps wording music around red lips. She moves on, though, keeps circling around the tables and collects a few more tips. At some point, she leans over another woman’s shoulder and sings hushed until the woman smiles and tips her, too.

She moves back to the stage and sits by the edge, legs crossed. Kihyun crouches next to her and the song slows as they sing to each other, the girl cheekily waving the money in front of his face as if to tease him and winking at him.

And then it’s over in a soft, whispered falsetto where the two of them overlap completely different voices and tones.

Changkyun looks around at the room. Is he supposed to clap…?

The girl lets the microphone rest over her lap and keeps smiling at the audience. She brings the microphone up, then. “I feel like doing something slightly more cheerful. What do you think?” There seem to be mixed opinions coming as background noise to Changkyun as he keeps looking at Kihyun and Kihyun keeps looking at the crowd, expression guarded.

“This is hardly the best place to dance,” another woman says from the piano, voice muffled by the lack of microphone.

“Hm,” Kihyun hums. “I don’t know? There _are_ tables.”

Changkyun gapes, ashamed at himself as he thinks, for a minute, ‘ _Maybe I should get my ass to a table_ ’.

“They’re one of my favorite shows,” the barman whispers. “They’re funny and people like them.”

Changkyun smiles a little himself, fights the urge so say something stupid like, ‘ _You see the hot one in the red choker? Mine.’_ He’s… not entirely surprised at himself for it. He’s always been a little… not possessive, but… Shit, maybe he should bring up this boyfriend thing sooner rather than later...

“Who’s up for some upbeat fast tempo bebop?” The girl in red asks. She raises her hand. “Ah. Ah! I see you back there!” She winks at the tables at the back where people keep raising their hands. She turns to the bar then. “What about you, cranky fellas? Anyone bold enough to request something cheery?”

Changkyun’s eyes widen a little. _Oh, geez, that’s me_.

“Er,” he fumbles, ears red (blame it on the lighting) and clears his throat to speak up. “Do you have a favourite?”

The girl in red gasps dramatically and Kihyun looks up at Changkyun, eyes a little wide.

“You’re asking _me_ if I have a favourite?” The girl gasps again and looks at the rest of the crowd, points at Changkyun with her bright, red nails. “I like him better than I like you. Except you darlings at the back,” she says, melting and batting her eyelashes a little. “And those of you who’ve tipped me tonight. Obviously.”

“Well,” the woman by the piano sighs. “Upbeat it is! No one says ‘no’ to the queen.”

And true enough, an upbeat rhythm starts with the drums and the piano follows right in. The girl in red crosses her legs the other way around and keeps dancing with her shoulders as the songs builds up. Kihyun keeps his eyes cast down as he taps the rhythm with his foot.

The songs seems to turn mysterious for a moment, like something out of a 007 movie in a moment of pure suspense. But then it blows in a cheery jazz that the girl in red gets up to and starts singing as she walks between the tables.

Kihyun hops off the stage. And, indeed, they are the show. Because they sing as if they’re having a conversation. A conversation about who left the car keys at home, which just makes the whole thing look and sound even funnier.

The girl in red points at someone, suddenly, “Was it you?” She gasps while speaking _in_ tone with the wildness the piano is throwing at everyone’s ears. “Nope! It was you!” She points at someone else.

Kihyun sits next to the person the girl pointed at and squints at them, slowly reaching for their coat to give a small peek at the man’s pockets. He sings something around the words, “Too expensive. Drives a ferrari, doesn’t need a Mazda.”

Changkyun laughs a little into his hand. No wonder Kihyun enjoys this job… And with a voice like that? It would be a shame not to sing every day.

The girl in red gasps, turns in heel and points at someone next to Changkyun. It seems they just walked in and they seem so scared all of a sudden. “You! My opening act!”

And Kihyun sings, “No one is _opening_ for you.”

Changkyun ducks his head a little in second hand embarrassment, before smiling up again, at Kihyun, specifically, as the girl pouts, pats the person on the cheek and moves on. She turns, spins a little and leans against the counter next to Changkyun, smiling evilly at him.

“Oh, honey,” she sing-songs, hand on her hip, elbow over the counter. “You’re so small!” A beat. “Where do you keep it all?” And turns to look at Kihyun, who’s already sitting at another table, raising an eyebrow at her.

People laugh. Changkyun flushes. “Looks can be deceiving,” he decides on then, in a manic internal scramble for his dignity.

The girl side-glances at him and brings the microphone down while Kihyun sings something about size to the tall man sitting next to him. “Oh, I know,” she says and leans closer, looks Changkyun up and down. “You’re new. You can call me Seola,” she holds her hand between them for Changkyun to shake.

He does, smiling crooked in that way he knows works. “Changkyun. But you can call me his,” and on the last word, Changkyun motions with his eyes towards Kihyun.

She grins, brings the microphone up to hum something that fits in so well with what Kihyun is singing. And then, she lowers the mic again and gesture at the barman. “I’m paying for his drink.” She leans back. “You’re the one making him happy lately.” She winks at Changkyun, who fumbles into his pocket to hold out a note. “Thank you for that.” And winks again, walks back towards the stage, leaves Changkyun alone with the warmth that quickly spreads in his chest.

Someone holds up a tip for her but Kihyun passes by and collects it for himself, looks over his shoulder to wink at the man and the man winks back.

At that, a few women at a table nearby hold up a few bills. And Kihyun walks up to them and kneels on one knee as he sings for them and collects the tips.

The song slows. Seola says something Changkyun doesn’t catch. And as Kihyun gets up, looks around the room, he sighs into the microphone.

“It’s so hard to believe you’re all here for me,” he says. Seola pouts with a squeak and people laugh. “Oh, I’m sorry,” Kihyun says and looks at Seola. “You think you’re the only one allowed to do comedy around here?”

“But no one laughs at your dad jokes!”

“Oh, I’m sure there are a lot of dads out here!” Kihyun says and when he looks around a few men put their hands up.

Seola points at some of them. “Those are not dads. They’re daddies!”

Changkyun barks a laugh before putting his hand over his mouth, flushing. Can he _stop_ with the blushing, Jesus...

Seola sits on the stage and dramatically drapes herself over the floor. The songs ends and she sighs. “No wonder those tips were so juicy.”

“Filled with sugar,” Kihyun says as he collects another tip. The little light on his microphone turns off and Kihyun slowly makes his way to the counter, bows his head with a polite smile at someone who greets him, and hops onto the stool next to Changkyun, eyes narrowed at him and a playful little smile. “Hey…”

“Hey,” Changkyun smiles back, leans in as if to whisper. “Are you playing favourites now…? Careful, my pockets are only so deep.”

“Ah,” Kihyun nods, chuckles and glances away. “So that’s where you keep it.”

Changkyun flushes again and shoves at him a little playfully. “Who is that girl and why is she intent on giving me a heart attack, anyway?”

Kihyun huffs a laugh and waves the barman over, who (without any exchange of words) places a shot in front of Kihyun. “Childhood friend, amazing singer _and_ co-worker. Kim Hyunjung.”

Changkyun raises an eyebrow, both at the shot and the name. “Hyunjung? She told me it was Seola.”

“Stage name.”

“Ah, what’s yours, then? Your stage name.”

“I don’t have one,” Kihyun says and takes the shot. He turns on the stool to face Changkyun. And despite the edge the makeup is giving Kihyun’s eyes, Changkyun notices a certain softness there, the longer Kihyun looks at him.

“Good,” Changkyun smiles. “You look beautiful, by the way.”

“Thank you,” Kihyun smiles and it’s the smile Changkyun would recognize anywhere even if he couldn’t see the wearer. “It’s… weird that you’re here, though.” Kihyun laughs. “But I’m happy that you came, even if it took me by surprise.”

“Are you surprised? I quite literally kissed the address out of you.”

“Well, I figured you’d come but… Didn’t expect it to be so soon.” Kihyun leans back and glances at the tables across the room. “So…” He looks back at Changkyun. “Verdict?”

“Your stage should be bigger,” Changkyun says. “That’s my verdict.”

Kihyun smiles and looks at the stage. “I guess… Thank you. But,” he reaches up to the feather hanging from the choker and fumbles with it a little, “I like this place. The lights help me see things better. A big stage would make me look like a deer in the headlights.”

“It lives up to the name,” Changkyun says, glancing around. “Everything looks sort of red. But it’s nice. Your voice reminds me of red.”

Kihyun blinks and looks at Changkyun. “I’m glad you like it.” He hooks the feather off the chain and hands it to Changkyun. “I know it’s… different. But…” Kihyun glances around. “Here no one cares, here no one knows. Everything is red. No one will ask you for the blue folder.” He chuckles. “Or tell you to go in when the lights turn green. It’s… easy. Familiar. I love it.”

“That’s… Really nice, though, I’m glad you have somewhere like that.” Changkyun thumbs at the feather, looking down at it with a soft smile. “Later I’ll tell you why your voice reminds me of red,” he says, glances around before ducking in for a quick kiss to the cheek. “Although, perhaps not upstairs. I’ve heard things.”

Kihyun turns to look at him, eyes narrowed. “Upstairs… Oh!” His eyes widen and he snorts. “Ah, that. Yeah. Not upstairs.” He hops off the stool.

“Wait, so there’s seriously a brothel upstairs?” Changkyun gapes.

“Same guy who owns this place,” Kihyun says and looks over his shoulder. “But I wouldn’t take you there. I’m possessive.”

“Good, me too,” Changkyun grins.

“Are you leaving soon? Or was that just now a cue for me? Like, you’ll stay until I leave.”

“Have to make sure you don’t accidentally wander upstairs,” Changkyun teases, stands up, too. “Besides. I’m getting me a front row seat.”

Kihyun raises an eyebrow. He looks amused. “You seem fixated on what happens upstairs.” He walks next to Changkyun towards the tables at the front.

Changkyun laughs, keeps his hands to himself. Can’t have anyone else get any ideas. “I’m _shocked_ , is all.”

“What if I happened to work upstairs, too? Would that be bad?”

“I don’t know, are they hiring? I could use a part time job.”

“Huh,” Kihyun smiles and tongues at the corner of his lips. “Fair answer, that one.” He gestures at one of the tables where a couple is getting up from. “Your throne.”

Changkyun ducks his head as a thanks before sitting down, knees further apart than necessary before lifting his foot to his knee and leaning back to grin at Kihyun, who rolls his eyes and hops onto the stage.

The rest of the show is a mix of jazz and funny upbeat songs that sometimes seem improvised. It really doesn’t help that when Changkyun tries to tip Kihyun, Kihyun purposely (it had to be on purpose) links his fingers with Changkyun’s to take the bill from his hand. And it’s all very vague. Looks that linger longer than necessary, little touches that seem casual but aren’t. At least, Seola doesn’t treat Changkyun like that and Kihyun doesn't seem to be this touchy with anyone else.

In any case, it’s driving Changkyun just a tad insane.

When the show is over, another show starts. It’s piano and guitar. And it’s good. It’s really good, but Changkyun’s brain files it as background noise. He startles, though, when someone he wouldn’t have recognized if not for the blonde hair tied in an updo sits on the chair next to his and steals one of his cheetos.

“I’ve been told to fetch you, boy,” Seola says, face blank without all that makeup. Somehow, she’s cute. Even more so, now.

“To go where, _girl_?” Changkyun teases back.

She grins at him. “You know where you wanna go. _Who_ you wanna see.”

Changkyun sighs, dramatically. “I told him not to go upstairs…” And laughs again. “So, where is he, then? Couldn’t have come to get me himself?”

“Unfortunately for you,” Seola sighs and stands up, beckoning at Changkyun to follow after her, “He’s getting dressed. So, come on.”

Changkyun gets up and comes on. “I’m gonna be that guy and ask… so he mentions me, then?”

“Good looking tattoo artist with a sweet disposition?” Seola looks over her shoulder. “Yes, he does. Although, someone would have to be blind not to see how cheerful he is lately. Well, more than usual.”

The door they go through reads ‘Staff Only’.

 _Sweet disposition, huh_? “Nice to know you can spot tattoo artists on the go. That’s a joke, I’m aware of what I look like.” And then, “Oooh, an actual dressing room? I feel like I’m going to meet some big celebrity.”

“You already have,” Seola winks at him and gives him a pat on the back. “Me, obviously,” she says before she turns to walk away.

There are a few people in the dressing room and all glance at Changkyun, smile and then go on about their business. But just when Changkyun might be about to freak out a little, something (someone, actually) latches onto his back.

“Hey!” Kihyun chirps as he squeezes Changkyun’s torso between his arms. “You look lost! Can I help?”

Changkyun laughs, the tenseness he’d been carrying in his shoulders seeming to melt away, too. “Yes, please, sir, I’m looking for a boy? A specific one, I didn’t just wake up this morning with a craving.”

“Does he have a name?” Kihyun asks, wiggling Changkyun around a little.

Changkyun closes his eyes like he’s thinking. “Ah, it’s on the tip of my tongue, what was it… Cutie? Nah, that’s not it…” He peeks one eye open, decides ‘fuck it’, and asks, “Baby?”

Kihyun pauses for a moment and then starts wiggling Changkyun again. “Hm?”

Changkyun can’t help the smile that spreads across his face. “So… Baby’s right, then…? Wasn’t shooting way off target?”

“Depends,” Kihyun hums. “Were you aiming at me?” And lets Changkyun go to peek by his arm, eyes big and on Changkyun’s face.

“Who else could it be?”

Kihyun smiles and when he comes fully into view Changkyun notices the baggy yellow hoodie. _How_ is this the same person from a few minutes ago? His finger are barely peeking out of the sleeves.

“So,” Kihyun smiles and tilts his head. “Where to, coin-man?”

“Well,” Changkyun says, and Kihyun’s hoodie is so damn soft and big and he just wants to pick Kihyun up and take him home and kiss him senseless and give him food so his cheeks puff up and-- _ugh_. Except, of course, he doesn’t say that. “I was thinking… Well, actually, I wasn’t thinking much, to be honest…”

“Hm,” Kihyun blinks at him. “We can stay here, if you wanna watch the rest of the shows. Although,” He squints. “I’m a big hungry, so if we leave I wanna get something to eat.”

“Believe it or not,” Changkyun says, smiles a little and points with his thumb over his shoulder. “I walked here. Passed a nice kimchi place, too. We can… Whatever, really.”

“Hmm!” Kihyun moans blissfully and wiggles his arms around. “Kimchi fried rice!” He beams at Changkyun. “I’ll pay, then!”

“Will you _ever_ let me pay for food?” Changkyun laughs, picking Kihyun up to point him to the door before taking his hand.

Kihyun drags Changkyun a little to the side to pick up a backpack and pull it over his shoulder. “Yeah. But I got cash. Cash! I’m rich today. Lemme show off.”

“Then I’ll show off, too,” Changkyun teases. “And at least _some_ of that tip is from me.”

“Which mean,” Kihyun points at him with a teasing smile. “You’re kinda paying, in the end. So no need to bother.”

“With what? Showing you off? Can’t stop me.”

“Yes, yes,” Kihyun tugs at Changkyun’s hand. “Just not in here.” He chuckles. “I won’t be getting any tips if the customers see me with you.”

Changkyun scoffs. “Maybe it’ll just make ‘em tip you more? Try to tempt you away from me.”

“I trade money for singing and a bit a theatrical nonsense,” Kihyun snorts. They walk out the backdoor, into a weird alley that curves into the main street. “Not sexual favors. For that,” Kihyun points at the floor right above, windows covered in black. “There’s that.”

“So you don’t trade _money_ for sexual favours…” Changkyun grins. “Is there a different currency for that?”

Kihyun glances away as they walk. “Not really, no... You, specifically, can get those for free.”

Changkyun trips on thin air, looks back and points with his face all red. “Did you see that? I think I tripped on my own words back there, damn, how’d that happen…”

Kihyun laughs and swings their hands. “I don’t know.” He looks down and moves his feet inside his Converse. “I can only see the floor where we have light. Like,” he points back. “That’s all just blotchy to me, right now.”

“Nothing special,” Changkyun shrugs, looking back for a second. “Prefer looking at you.”

Kihyun smiles and gives a full body shiver. “Ah, so lame.” He jumps a little and tugs at Changkyun’s hand so he walks a bit closer.

“S’your fault,” Changkyun says, squeezing his hand. “You make me say stupid shit just to make you smile. Like… Like that, for instance.”

“Hm. So does this mean I can visit you at work, too?”

“Of course. Any time you want. I have a cappuccino machine and everything.”

“Then I might just do that.”

 

 

Kihyun always found tattoo artists a bit intimidating. It’s not really about the tattoo sleeves or the edgy looks. They do have pretty smiles (well, some of them, the fortunate ones). But there’s just this aura about them. _Confidence._

So, he doesn’t really know what kind of face he’s supposed to put on when he walks into Changkyun’s workplace. But he settles on squinting at the tall guy behind the counter who keeps squinting at him like he needs glasses.

Bright hair. _These people dye their hair a lot._ Tall. Lean features and full lips? Sounds like… What was his name again?

Kihyun looks around for a bit, still squinting (mostly because the walls are so white they blind him a little) and then looks at Hyungwon _(Ah! Hyungwon!)_ again. “Hello..?”

“Hello?” Hyungwon says right back. He straightens up a little, then, almost indignant, slips a pair of big, circle glasses onto his face. “Im Ink, how can I help you?”

“Uhm,” Kihyun blinks, hikes the little backpack up. “Is… is Changkyun here?”

Hyungwon blinks slowly. “We’d be out of business if he wasn’t.” Hyungwon squints a little more. “Hang on…” He stands up, leans on the counter. “You’re the MonBebe guy.”

 _The MonBebe guy._ Well, that’s a label.

“I’m Kihyun,” he smiles politely and bows his head a little.

Hyungwon scoffs. “Right, that’s the name.” He gestures with his head to a closed door on the wall perpendicular to him. “He should be done in a minute or two.”

“Oh,” Kihyun nods. “Okay. I’ll… wait then…” Suddenly he doesn’t know what to do with himself, though. So he just stands there, hoping his eyes don’t go crazy with anxiety and start moving on their own in front of Changkyun’s ex boyfriend. _That would be a story._

“You’re short,” Hyungwon says, then.

Kihyun’s eyebrow twitches but he keeps his eyes away from Hyungwon face when he says, “You’re tall.”

Hyungwon grins a little, motions around the room. “There are chairs. Changkyun’s portfolios. Snacks I’m sure he’ll let you have at for free. You don’t need to stand there looking lost. I’m not gonna bite, either. Well, maybe, haven’t made up my mind yet.”

 _The walls are blinding._ Kihyun thinks as he glances around, narrows his eyes. “You’d have to catch me first,” he mumbles, notices a table with a few things on top. _Folders_ . He moves closer to the table and notices a chair. _Ah, so there are chairs…_ He plops down on one and blinks. _Chair._

There’s laughter, muffled, probably from the room next door. Changkyun’s laugh and someone else’s. The door opens after it gets a little louder, and he catches Changkyun mid-sentence.

“--but that’s besides the point. Seriously, though, dude, you need to calm down, you’re gonna run out of skin.”

Kihyun looks down at his jeans. _Why is the floor white as well!?_ He needs sunglasses.

“In any case, I’ll send you the next picture, go _mad_.”

“Thanks for your support!” Changkyun laughs and Kihyun hears the door open and close.

“Your not-boyfriend boyfriend catfish is here,” Hyungwon says without sounding too interested in the whole affair. Kihyun flushes, though. _Not-boyfriend boyfriend catfish?_ Kihyun pouts a little, despite the heat on his face.

“Oh!” Changkyun says, walking over. “You actually came to visit!”

Kihyun looks up and-- _Thank god, he’s wearing black!_ “He--Hey…” He smiles. “Sorry, I can leave if you’re too busy.”

“Nah, I got time,” Changkyun says, frowns a little. “Hey, wanna come into my studio? It can’t be nice out here.”

_Oh._

Kihyun stands up and nods vaguely as he fumbles with the small bag he’s been carrying over his shoulder. “I got you a thing…” He brings out two packs of jellies and shyly slides one of them over the counter for Hyungwon before giving the other to Changkyun.

Hyungwon seems to perk up at that, quickly reaching for his jellies. “Snacks? Oh, goodie.” He opens the pack in a practised movement before stuffing an impressive amount into his mouth, cheek puffing.

Changkyun sighs. “Could you at least try to savour it? Aish...”

Hyungwon just looks up and chews, eyes shifting between the two of them.

“He’s always like this,” Changkyun says, looking over to Kihyun. “Humble apologies.”

“It’s okay,” Kihyun smiles and then bites both lips in. _Not-boyfriend, huh._

“Now come on!” Changkyun jumps a little, smiling wide and tugging at Kihyun to follow. “I wanna show you!”

“Well, I wanna see? I guess?” Kihyun laughs a little.

“Good, that helps!” Changkyun pulls Kihyun along, doesn’t close the door, though. It’s much darker in here. There’s a bright light above the chair, that Changkyun quickly switches off. “I was thinking about that thing you told me? Wanting a tattoo but wanting to pick all the colours? Well,” Changkyun motions towards a table, papers and paint everywhere, clearly where Changkyun spends his time sketching and doing art. There’s what looks like a palette of watercolours next to a big open sketchbook, geometric flowers drawn all over the page,  “I put little stickers on the nametags so you can go mad.”

Kihyun blinks, his eyes go between the table and Changkyun. “For real?”

Changkyun glances at him, shoulders sinking a little. “Yeah..? Is that okay? You can tell me if I’m being _way_ over eager right now…”

“No! No…” Kihyun shakes his head, slowly lets his backpack fall from his shoulder. He catches it before it hits the floor and slowly places it down. “I just…” _Didn’t expect you to want to go through with it._ He looks between the colours, or at least that’s what they’re supposed to be, colours. Yet all Kihyun sees it dark and light. He notices a blinding colour, though, and smiles a little. “Is that yellow?” He points at one of the markers.

“Ah, I’m not allowed to tell you, remember?” Changkyun smiles soft.

“It looks like… yellow to me.” Kihyun says and picks it up, then going through the others. He’s pretty sure some of those just look the same. Maybe one will be slightly, just a tiny, tiny bit lighter than the other. But Kihyun shrugs it off and picks them with his intuition, actually looking between what he’s already picked and what’s still on the table.

He’s got about five different colours, or so he hopes (maybe they’re just different tones of the same colour), when he turns to Changkyun and hands them over. “These, then…” They’re a mix of lighter greys, one of them a really bright grey. And there’s only one that looks slightly darker than the rest of them.

“Oooh,” Changkyun says, plopping down in the chair and looking through the markers, before smiling wide at Kihyun. “Great! Seriously, this will look brilliant…”

Kihyun leans down, elbows on the table, and squishes his face between his hands as he watches Changkyun. “I bet that bright one is yellow, though.”

Changkyun scoffs, uncapping a pen with his teeth. “You _really_ wanna get this yellow thing out of me, huh?”

“Nah,” Kihyun grins, “It’s just… usually the bright ones that _don’t_ make me squint are the yellow ones.” He gestures at his eyes. “When I squint then it’s white.”

“Ah,” Changyun says, gestures over his shoulder. “The waiting room is white. Been looking at having one of those, like, rustic looks? With the wood and bricks and shit?”

“Oh!” Kihyun smiles. It’s not like the way he sees those places is the same way Changkyun does. But he can understand the appeal. “Those are cosy…”

“Yeah, exactly! It feels like,” Changkyun lifts his head to tilt it a little, tap the pen against his mouth. “Red and orange. That’s what cosy feels like.”

Kihyun lets his hands down and pulls his sleeves over his palms. “You’d still stand out, though. Because even when you dress in all black, you’re still bright.”

Changkyun glances over, pen to his lips as he pouts. “That’s cute…” And then pats at his lip with the pen before letting his hand drop and leaning forward with a small smile.

Kihyun watches him for a while. And it’s a really comfortable silence. It’s funny because Kihyun finds himself noticing small little quirks. The biggest tell is how Changkyun uses his left hand instead of his right, and yet manages to make whatever he wants with it over the paper. Turn simple lines to art, simple strokes to what would be colour.

He holds his tongue between his teeth a lot. Sometimes moves one eyebrow after the other, like a nervous habit or a way to relax his face. He’s wearing his piercing today which just makes it even more amusing to stare at.

“Did it hurt?” Kihyun asks and then snorts a laugh into his hand. “Not when you fell from heaven but--” He points at his own eyebrow. “That.”

Changkyun laughs softly, eyes not straying from the page. He’s already painting. Must be similar colours to what Kihyun had picked out, whatever they may be. “ _Yep_ ,” Changkyun says. “You have ear piercings, right? It’s not as… fast. They pull the skin and put this long needle through it and yeah, hurt like a bitch.”

Kihyun blinks and then makes a face. “Ugh… A… A needle through…” He gestures and then shivers. “Hm! Nope! Ah!” He waves the images away, swats at air as if it’ll help. “Shoo, shoo…”

“Sorry,” Changkyun laughs. “Didn’t know you had a thing about needles…”

“I don’t! It’s just the whole,” he gestures as if he’s sewing, “Thing…” He pauses mid gesture and looks at Changkyun. “How big was the needle?”

Changkyun raises the pierced eyebrow, moves back in his chair a little. “You realise I also do piercings, right? I could show you, I’ve got one here.”

“Oh god…” Kihyun swallows. “Okay…”

Changkyun laughs softly, stands up and gives Kihyun a kiss on the cheek before moving to the other side of the room. “Bear in mind, it gets left in there for a bit. And then replaced by--” He points at his eyebrow. “Piercing. But it’s healed now so I can take it out.”

“No, I mean… It’s pretty to look at. But the whole process…” Kihyun blinks. “There’s a movie I wouldn’t watch…”

“I’m not squeamish,” Changkyun shrugs, turns around to open what looks like a suitcase. “Can’t really be. But hey, I get it, no biggie. Except for _this_ bad boy, definitely a biggie,” Changkyun says, turning around holding a needle still in its plastic wrapping. “Ta-dah.”

_Oh boy._

“Do you also have fainting couches?” Kihyun asks. “Just in case people freak out when they see those.” He shivers and hugs himself.

“Next to you,” Changkyun laughs, and sure enough, there’s a comfy looking leather chair. “Usually, it’s just where Hyungwon naps but yeah, sometimes.” He holds the needle out. “You can touch it. I won’t use it.”

Kihyun reaches for it and winces a little on reflex. “Ugh… Now this is something I wouldn’t do…” He glances at Changkyun. “No offense. It looks great on you… I just…” He looks at the needle. _It’s hollow._

“Why would I be offended?” Changkyun laughs. “You could tell me you don’t want this tattoo either and I wouldn’t care. Your body, your rules. Appreciating something in someone else doesn’t mean wanting it for yourself.”

“Ah, but I want the tattoo…” Kihyun smiles at the needle and then sticks his tongue out at it before handing it back with a shiver.

“Then the tattoo you shall receive, and the needle, I shall put away,” Changkyun says with a little bow before he turns to put it in the suitcase, and turn back arms held out. “Now gimme a hug. Missed my chance when I didn’t greet you with one and it’s been eating at me ever since.”

Kihyun smiles a little.

_Not-boyfriend._

“Alright,” he says and grins before jumping at Changkyun and wrapping both legs and arms around him.

“Woah!” Changkyun laughs, holding him close and wobbling over to the couch and falling down. He nuzzles his face into Kihyun’s neck. “Aw, did you miss me?”

Kihyun leans back and squishes Changkyun’s cheeks to make his lips pout and then kisses him. “Maybe.” _Chu._ “I.” _Chu._ “Did.”

“Maybe?” Changkyun pouts, eyes bright even as he does. “Aw, that won’t do, because I _definitely_ missed you.”

Kihyun pouts, too, and mimics Changkyun expression. “You did? Aw.”

Changkyun laughs a little, “Yeah, silly. Who else would I miss when I need a little colour in my life?”

Kihyun smiles and ignores the way his heart tries to outrun his breathing. “Are we still on for this weekend?”

“You keep _asking_ ,” Changkyun pokes at his side, amused. “Like I’m going to _cancel_ on you, stop it.”

_Well, insecurities are in charge lately._

“I should do some shopping then. Grocery shopping.”

“Oooh, that’s always fun. Never go on an empty stomach, learned that the hard way.”

“Well, you wanted steak so…” Kihyun tilts his head. “Steak it is.” _Which reminds me._ “You’re from America?”

“Lived there for a while, yeah,” Changkyun shrugs, hair in all different directions on the couch. “If you need some English for whatever, I’m your man.”

“Oh?” Kihyun smiles. “Actually! I wouldn’t mind if you taught me English.” He shrugs. “I can speak it as in… I hear a song and I mimic what they say but I don’t really know what I’m saying half the time.”

“Ah, that won’t do,” Changkyun grins wide. “Sure. I’m sure you know.... ‘ _You are beautiful_ ’. In quite a lot of songs, that.”

Kihyun’s heart does a thing a again and he feels his face heat up. “Y--Yeah…

“Okay, well, kiss me when I say something you don’t understand,” Changkyun grins, wiggles like he’s a cat readying to pounce. “ _You’re cute, funny, I have a great time with you, you always smell nice, you’re kind and talented and you can cook! You make me forget I barely know you because I keep wanting to know you more. I wanna kiss you all the time but I also wanna listen to you talk about your day for hours_.”

Kihyun feels like he wants to explode. He didn’t understand much. But what he understood has his heart beating loud in his ears. “Uhm…” He leans in a little, blinks and then kisses Changkyun once, twice and then all over his face. Changkyun giggles, wiggling like it tickles.

“Hey,” Kihyun hears from the doorway with two solid knocks. “Close the damn door next time, you nasties.”

Kihyun jumps a little and looks over his shoulder. “So--Sorry…” He blinks. And then looks at Changkyun. Blinks some more. And finally hides his face in the crook of Changkyun’s neck.

“Well, then, close the door!” Changkyun laughs, wrapping his arms around Kihyun and blowing a raspberry on Kihyun’s neck. It makes Kihyun shiver. Actually, his body probably vibrates like a phone on silent. A shaky thing, really.

“I love when you do that,” Changyun mumbles against Kihyun’s neck, places a small kiss there before leaning back.

“It’s not on purpose…” Kihyun mumbles.

“Exactly,” Changkyun smiles, reaching up to brush the hair out of Kihyun’s eyes. “Some of the best things aren’t.”

“What is that supposed to mean,” Kihyun snorts a laugh. “Weren’t you a planned baby?”

“Oooh,” Changkyun rounds his lips. “That was smooth. That was really good, well done.”

Kihyun grins and then bows his head when he says, “Thank you, thank you.”

“I am,” Changkyun says, leaning forward for a soft kiss. “Never gonna get to--” And another, lingers there for a moment. “Finish that tattoo of yours…”

“When is your next appointment?”

Changkyun grins. “Hang on, I love doing this. Hyungwon!”

A few seconds. The door opens. “What.”

“When’s my next appointment?”

“In an hour,” Hyungwon says.

“Thank you,” Changkyun sing-songs and the door closes with more force than necessary. “See? It’s fun.”

“Hm,” Kihyun raises an eyebrow. “So, he’s your coin-man?”

Changkyun tilts his head, narrows his eyes. “I’m gonna need an exact definition here before I call him my anything…”

“He takes care of the money and arranges your schedule?”

“Ah! Yeah. I’m terrible at most practical things, so he keeps this place standing.”

Kihyun tilts his head to the same side Changkyun did. “I’m good at practical things.”

“Hmm, I don’t doubt that,” Changkyun hums and then laughs. “I don’t know what that was supposed to mean, sorry.”

Kihyun huffs a laugh. “That I do my taxes. Also, Minhyuk’s taxes.”

“Yeah, speak adult to me…”

Kihyun bumps their foreheads and laughs. “Kinky!”

“Yeah, yeah. Now as much as it pains me to say it, get off me, I have art to do.”

 

 

_Not-boyfriend boyfriend._

“So,” Kihyun says, clears his throat and changes the phone from one ear to the other to hold it up with his shoulder as he empties the grocery bag, “How bad is it if somehow they don’t want to call you their boyfriend..?”

“Somehow, huh? Sounds like you were expecting him to,” Minhyuk says, yawns a little. “Sorry, up late. Were you expecting him to, though?”

“Uhm,” Kihyun pauses. Was he? It’s not like it’s something they’d agreed on. “No… but I also didn’t expect him not to… It’s just…” _The whole not-boyfriend thing. He doesn’t want to?_

“Well, it’s only been, what, a few weeks? Let the boy mull it over.”

“You started dating Jooheon one day after you met him, don’t go mighty on me…”

“We didn’t need mulling!” Minhyuk laughs. “Listen, it’s not like you’ve already confessed that you love him or something.”

“Eh,” Kihyun squints at the bananas. Those are some massive bananas. “About that…”

“No… No, you didn’t…”

Kihyun coughs a little and takes the two packages of steak out of the bag. “Uhm, I might have said I was falling in love with him… Which isn’t a lie.”

“Shit, Ki, seriously? I knew you were all head over heels for the guy but I had no idea you were falling in _love_ with him.”

“Ugh,” Kihyun groans a little. “Minhyuk. I told him about my colour blindness and he told me the sky looks like the smell of lavender. _How!_ Am I not supposed to fall for him?”

“He did? Damn, no wonder… Wait!” Minhyuk squeaks. “You told him? What did he say?! The falling in love thing, not the old movie filter thing.”

Kihyun rolls his eyes. “He said…” He squints at the tag on the pack of broccoli. _Need to cook this soon…_ “He said…” He blinks and his heart speeds up, so Kihyun clears his throat again, “He said! He’s… falling in love, too…”

Minhyuk whistles lowly. “Hey, maybe he’s just got some commitment issues. Did he tell you he didn’t wanna be your boyfriend or are you jumping to conclusions again?”

“Well…” Kihyun bites at his lower lip. “His ex-boyfriend said--”

“His fuckin’ _what_? _Kihyun_ ,” Minhyuk groans.

“He works with his ex!”

“Yikes. Was it serious?”

“Huh… No? I don’t know. Changkyun just shrugged it off and said it wasn’t it.”

“Then why the frickity frack are you taking the not-that-big-a-deal-of-an-ex’s word for it?”

Kihyun whines, wiggles the plastic bag around to flatten it over the table. “Should have called Shownu. He’s a lot more understanding than you are…”

“You call me when you need me to tell you shit you wanna hear but can’t tell yourself,” Minhyuk scoffs. “I can channel Dad if you like… Lemme see; _it’s okay to be insecure, the opinion of his friends and especially someone potentially as close to him in the past as you want to be in the future means a lot to you’..._ ”

“Oh god, shut up!” Kihyun wiggles the bag around again and then holds the phone with his hand as he lets his face fall forward onto the table like, _smack._ “Ouch… By the way… He’s coming over tomorrow…”

“Oh, god. Are you cooking?”

“Steak… with butter.”

“You realise what ‘come over, I’ll cook’ _means,_ right?”

Kihyun narrows his eyes. “Is it bad if I didn’t mean it like that but won’t mind if it ends like that?”

“The fact that you keep asking _me_ what’s bad and what isn’t makes me worry…”

“I just don’t want to fuck it up… Hah.” Kihyun snorts and rolls his eyes at himself. “Now, there’s a joke.”

Minhyuk laughs. “Aish. Seriously, no idea why you’d be scared of having sex with a hot dude…”

Kihyun flushes. “I’m not scared of having sex with him! I just… don’t want it to be one of those flame things that dims once you get it done. I really, really like him. It helps that’s he’s hot, sure. But… He makes me all ugh, giddy. More than usual, yes, I can _hear_ you roll your eyes.”

“Good, because I am. Look, I get it, okay? But the days of sex being the, I don’t know, _reward_ for deciding to settle down with someone is way past. Have sex if you want, wait if you want, but don’t _not_ do something that feels right because you’re worried it shouldn’t.”

“Y--Yeah, I know. But does he? Ugh.” Kihyun sighs. “Anyway… You’ll hear from me if it ends badly.”

“Aw, come on, can’t I hear from you if it goes well? I need good things in my life!”

“Shut up. How’s your life?

“Great! Having, just, like, a ton of great sex, if you’re interested--”

“Nope!” Kihyun jumps up. “Geeh… I think I hit my head too hard…” He sighs, rubs his hand on his forehead. “You know, maybe we could--If you’d shut up about how much sex you’re having--Maybe we could go on a…” _Is it a thing?_ “Double date…”

“Well! It helps that Jooheon and Changkyun are already friends then, huh? See if I can stand your ugly mug, though.”

“Well, just think of it this way then,” Kihyun says bitterly, “Changkyun and Jooheon more than make up for my ugly mug.” He sticks his tongue out as if Minhyuk was right in front of him.

Minhyuk sighs dreamily. “My dimple boys… Is Changkyun a total baby, too? Never actually met this guy, you know.”

“Hey! Hands off!” Kihyun hisses.

“Wasn’t intending to hands on! Just asking! Yikes, protective much.”

Kihyun picks up one of the steak packs and stares at it. “Hm, I should have taken Shownu with me. Can never tell if the meat looks good or not… It’s just ugly.” He narrows his eyes at the nonsense in front of him. “Just… bleh… texture. Raw chicken is so much better to look at.”

“It’s all just grey to you, huh? Huh, never thought how hard it must be for you to cook… How come you like it so much then?”

“You can tell by the way it smells. Also,” Kihyun looks at the wall. “There’s a clock on the wall. I can time it. And I like it because it’s something I’m surprisingly good at without even _seeing_ the way you do. So, there you go, chromatic eyeballs. Colour means nothing!” _It actually means a lot but this is self-care._

Minhyuk scoffs. “Yeah, yeah. In any case, I’ve got a shitton of colourful notes in front of me begging for attention. Seriously, though, just… Ask him out. Actually out, not on a date. If you feel like you wanna be his boyfriend, then why not, right?”

“Yeah…” Kihyun sighs. “Yeah… Well! Good luck with your studying. It sounds more like _dying_ from here but, yeah. Bye bye!”

“Die die!” Minhyuk chirps before the line goes dead.

 _Boyfriend._ “Huh…” Kihyun squints and looks at his phone. He opens his chat with Changkyun and squints some more. He’s so busy overthinking he only notices his eyes do that weird thing they do once he gains his conscience back. So, he slaps at his cheeks and squeezes his eyes shut.

_Boyfriend._

He tries again. Types; ‘Do you want to’ and then backspaces. Then types; ‘How do you feel about dating’ and backspaces again. ‘Hey!’ and backspace. ‘I’m so dumb’ and more backspace. ‘Soup’ and this time hits send instead of backspacing.

“Oh… boy…” He blinks and then snorts a laugh as he watches it load and then sees the little arrows tic.

 

Soup  
Changkyunie  
not much what soup with you  
Bought broccoli and they’re very sturdy  
Gotta cook them soon

“What the fuck, Yoo Kihyun,” Kihyun tells himself.

 

Changkyunie  
only way to handle a case of sturdy broccolis  
At what time are you coming over tomorrow?  
Ah!!!!! Should text you my address  
Changkyunie  
>> this is trust  
Mm what time do you want me?  
winkwink  
Early? Like around 4?  
You said you wanted to cook together  
Changkyunie  
oh yeah we said 4  
I doooooooo!!!  
I’ll bring brownies!!!!  
Normal brownies  
Maybe  
What’s the other kind of brownies  
OHHHH  
Wait  
Changkyunie  
you’re so innocent sometimes it’s cute  
I’m not!!!  
Innocent!!!!!  
Changkyunie  
Defensive~  
Is there anything else you need me to bring?  
Your sense of humor?  
Changkyunie  
LOL can’t get rid of that  
Even in the most inappropriate situations so yeah we good  
Sex with you must be a parody

_What._

“What.”

 

Changkyunie  
now I have to make you laugh during sex too????  
THE PRESSURE  
I’m already laughing so maybe we can start  
Changkyunie  
okay not the best way to kick off a sexy mood but alright  
Me: pants off  
You: lol  
Maybe  
If you take them off in a funny way lmao  
Why do I imagine you saying stuff like  
“Hey Kihyun I can take my pants through my head!”  
Changkyunie  
ohmygod but wouldn’t that be RAD  
Dammit now I wish I could do that  
STOP HAVING IMAGINARY ME IMPRESS YOU  
I bet you’re going to try it at home later  
Changkyunie  
later, he says  
LMAO  
Keep me updated  
Changkyunie  
cool  
So I think I’m stuck  
Well, look on the bright side!  
You can still text so if it gets bad you can call the firemen  
Changkyunie  
I would just LOVE to call a fireman and say  
“Help me out of my pants, good sir.”  
I’d read that  
Just saying  
Sounds like a good prompt  
Changkyunie  
for porn, maybe  
Nah  
Porn would be more like  
Changkyunie  
hoes for hose  
The fireman wouldn’t be wearing much  
So if it were an actual fire  
He’d turn into a chalked churro  
Changkyunie  
there’s not much to find sexy about a chalked churro  
I bet that if I google porn+chalked churro  
There is something of someone being spanked with a chalked churro  
I swear  
There is porn about EVERYTHING  
Changkyunie  
idk it’s only giving me chocolate or smthn  
This is disappointing  
Did you just say spanked with a chalked churro????? lmfao  
I didn’t want to get into details  
Changkyunie  
ah, so not trying to give me any ideas, then?  
...  
You’re into that????  
Changkyunie  
my aesthetic is a sham honestly  
I remember I was at this supposedly really cool club once  
Looking like I do  
And this guy asks me if I wanted to be his ‘sub’  
Apparently there was an orgy scheduled and his dropped out  
I mean, I'M FLATTERED BUT  
People actually DO that???  
Changkyunie  
orgies? yeah  
Honest to god I thought that was a myth  
Perpetuated by porn  
Changkyunie  
noooope people do that  
Which is fine!!! Good on you, mate!! Live yo life!!  
But like  
Don't know if I can have sex with just anyone??  
especially not a bunch of people idk maybe I'm weird  
And hey I can barely keep up fucking one person  
...why am I telling you this  
Sounds like a healthy chat between two guys…

“At least it makes me less of a nervous wreck,” Kihyun snorts.

 

Changkyunie  
when i said ‘barely keep up’  
I meant in like  
A skilled, sexy way  
obviously  
Lmao  
You, trying to save yourself: but like! Safe! Sexy! I mean skilled!  
Changkyunie  
must you expose me like this…  
I think I get what you mean though  
People always assume that I’m  
Well  
That  
What you were asked to do  
Changkyunie  
Same tho  
God knows why  
So you’re not…?  
Just trying to assuage the full situation don’t mind me  
Eeeeeeeeeeeehhhhhhhh  
I’m whatever the other person doesn’t want to be  
Changkyunie  
and you’re cool with that?  
I think it’s instinct, really  
I know some people have a preference  
Maybe so do I but  
At the end of the day as long as everyone is happy, I’m happy  
Changkyunie  
Well  
Ditto  
So!  
Soup! I guess that’s what I’ll be doing for dinner…  
Changkyunie  
oh that’s why you sent me the word soup I thought that was a butt text or something  
Weirdest fckn booty call I’ve ever gotten  
“soup”  
Call it whatever you like  
Changkyunie  
Guess I’ve got my safeword down lmao  
Soup?????  
Wait safeword??????  
?????????????????????  
Where is this going  
Changkyunie  
BREATHE  
Everyone should have a safeword lol  
Not just for whatever kinky shit you’re thinking about  
And it was a joke so in through the nose, out through the mouth, breeeathe  
Then  
Then  
My safe word is pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis  
Changkyunie  
ah yes  
Ouch lungs from breathing in volcano dust  
Of course  
Did you just google the longest word in english???? lmao  
Yeah well  
I know it’s it  
But I can never type it on my own  
Changkyunie  
good thing you don’t have to spell a safeword  
Srsly tho get another safeword that is TERRIBLE LOL  
I can always just set it on google and then hit the button for the lady to speak it for me  
Changkyunie  
”Siri, is Kihyun enjoying the Sex?”  
“Pneumolongjfgkdfjgkdjghladfg”  
“Alrighty”  
Alexa though  
Changkyunie  
”alexa play despacito, I’m done with the sex”  
Now that’s a very off putting safe word  
Despacito  
It would go down in seconds  
Changkyunie  
oh god…  
I’m laughing sm  
I’m on the floor  
It’s comfy  
Changkyunie  
NO BUT LISTEN I HAVE AN IDEA  
I figure out where the next orgy is happening right  
And then we just stand outside with a boombox  
And fuckin’ blast despacito  
Oh! That would be terrible!  
There’s just a certain amount of cruel I tolerate  
And you’re it  
Changkyunie  
that is the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me  
All within the law  
I shoplifted once btw  
I was 15  
People told me I’d be cool if I did it  
Changkyunie  
:ooo what did you steal???  
Well  
Have I told you I’m a practical person?  
I was thirsty so  
A bottle of water  
Changkyunie  
you stole  
water  
Here’s the best part  
People pay for water  
Changkyunie  
listen I get your point  
But I once tried to drink the tap water in my flat and like  
It had Flavour  
All water has flavour and whoever tells you otherwise is stupid  
Changkyunie  
No but this was like  
When yogurt has bits in it  
Nah I get what you mean  
Even tea tastes different with tap water  
Changkyunie  
I’ve never had coffee or tea with like  
Filtered water lol  
Are you gonna spoil me tomorrow night?  
Yes  
Dw though  
I cook with tap water  
I’m not that weird  
Changkyunie  
are you a different kind of weird, then?  
Maybe?  
You’ll be the judge of that  
So…  
See you tomorrow then?  
I’ll text you the address in a bit  
Changkyunie  
can’t wait <3

Kihyun sighs (from the floor). He scrolls down his contacts (doesn’t have to scroll all that much, really) and calls Shownu.

It only rings twice and Kihyun speaks before Shownu can take a breath.

“I need help.”

“Oh, yeah, hi, what’s--” Kihyun can hear Shownu rustling, probably pauses whatever he’s watching as the background noise stops. “What’s up?”

“Are you busy?” Kihyun asks first. “I bought meat… I can’t tell if it’s good… It needs to be good. Can you come over or… I can go there? With the meat.”

“Why does the… I’m confused, you’ve been cooking fine for years, why do you need me to judge your meat?”

“Not my meat!” Kihyun sits up. “Look, it’s steak. And I’m… I’ve never cooked steak like this so… The meat needs to be good. You’re good with that so I thought you could help me.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll help. Do you want to cook it tonight or? And no, I wasn’t busy, I was playing Fallout. I keep dying, Kihyun.”

“Change the difficulty,” Kihyun mumbles as he gets up from the floor. “And no… I’m cooking it tomorrow. I just need you to look at it and tell me if it looks decent.”

Shownu laughs. “You are freaking out, aren’t you?”

“Me?” Kihyun scoffs as he looks around the room. “Nah. I don’t freak out.”

“Uh-huh. There’s a really obvious solution to this and you’re missing it which means you’re freaking out. You’re the most practical person I know.”

Kihyun pauses. “I’m not freaking out. I’m just…” _Not freaking out?_

“Send me a picture of the steak, Kihyun. And then tell me what’s wrong.”

Kihyun squints. “A picture… Right. Right.” He stumbles a little on his way to the kitchen and opens the fridge to bring out the two packs of steak. “Can you do your magic with a picture? You have a Samsung, it’s like life looks more defined through that screen. Even _I_ see better looking through that screen.”

“Quality is quality. But yes, I’ll be able to see. Soyou sends me pictures from the market all the time.”

“Alright…”

“This is for the date, then?”

“Y--Yeah..” Kihyun places the packs over the counter and opens the camera to take a picture. When he looks at it, though, the meat looks exactly the same as it does in real life; mushy. “Sending now… And… Sent.”

“Let’s see, then… Shit, is this rib-eye? That’s expensive, are you going to ask this guy to marry you or something? Shit, now I want rib-eye, I’m gonna text Soyou…”

“Marry?” Kihyun makes a face. “No… Just… He said he hasn’t eaten steak in a while…”

“Alright. Well, this is a good looking steak so don’t worry about that. If he likes steak he probably won’t want it too cooked in any case so it’s an easy job.”

“Yeah, thanks!”

“Still freaking out, then?”

“Well…” Kihyun clears his throat, almost dives into the fridge as he stores the packs in. “How do you… ask someone to be your boyfriend considering there might be a slight possibility they don’t want to be boyfriends and then you just stand there looking stupid?”

“Pretty sure you just spelled it out. You wanna ask him to be your boyfriend? Damn. That’s great, Kihyun!”

Kihyun’s chest feels all warm and fuzzy. “Thanks…?” He closes the fridge. “Funnily enough, this app is great. Met one of my best friends and now someone I actually like? What do they put in this algorithm..?”

“Hah! Well, you did have a few fluke dates, too. Maybe you’re just lucky? Or maybe the app creator unlocked the secrets of love, who knows.”

“Ah, but the flukes make for great stories,” Kihyun chuckles, turns to walk into the living room. “How have you been…?”

“Good, good. One of the guy’s I’ve been helping--the dancer, with the knee injury? He checked in today and his walking is perfect, very speedy recovery so I’m quite chuffed about that.”

“Oh! The one you told me about before?” Kihyun plops down on the sofa. “What about that lady? The one who had all those back problems?”

“Well--”

 

 

“Okay, but what if he asks me if I’m wearing colour, and I’m still just wearing black and white and he thinks it’s because I’m trying too hard or--”

Jooheon shoves a bottle of wine at Changkyun’s chest. “You literally wear black all the time, can you breathe.”

“No. Maybe. I’ll try.”

 

Need anything from the shop?

 

“Wine?” Changkyun asks, lifting an eyebrow. “Isn’t that a bit… You know.”

Jooheon rolls his eyes and hangs his head back to give Changkyun an unimpressed stare. “Really? Ask him if he wants beer, then.”

 

Beer? Wine?

 

“I feel like I’m spamming him,” Changkyun grumbles.

“Yeah?” Jooheon snorts. “You don’t want to be friends with Minhyuk, then. He takes the word ‘spam’ to a whole new level.”

 

Kihyun  
I prefer beer but I’m fine with both!!!  
Thank you!!

 

Changkyun shoves the wine back. “We’re going beer. Just two guys. Hanging out. Drinking beer. Without the implied societal implications of wine.”

Jooheon stares at it for a moment. “Well, I’ll take the wine, then.” He cradles the bottle as if it were a baby as Changkyun laughs and takes a six pack of beer out of the fridge. “Asking someone out over beer seems fun. And steak. Send me pics of that steak, dude. Haven’t eaten steak in a while.”

“Ugh, I’m really looking forward to that, actually,” Changkyun laughs, motioning for them to go pay. “Asking him out, you say…”

“Isn’t that what’s happening?” Jooheon looks over his shoulder at Changkyun, lips pouty as he speaks. “Or is it something else? It’s totally fine either way, I think.”

“You do?” Changkyun asks, putting the beer down to pay and taking the wine from Jooheon. “It’s weird, we haven’t even… Well, you know. And when I went to watch him sing at work? I got so _stupid_ possessive. Even called him ‘mine’ at some point…”

“Dude,” Jooheon scoffs a laugh. “Seriously? I mean!” Jooheon shrugs, crosses his arms. “Haven’t you… Hasn’t he mentioned it? Dating you. Or you dating him. Have you mentioned it?”

“Not… really,” Changkyun says, smiling politely at the cashier and handing over the money. “Guess it hasn’t really come up? Ugh, I don’t know, it feels like we’re already freaking dating… I just don’t wanna ruin it.”

“Hm,” Jooheon nods, takes the wine into his arms again and pats at it. “It’s fine though. I just ask out of curiosity, but it’s fine if that’s not what you guys are doing. If you want to, though, just to make sure you’re on the same page? Talk to him.”

Changkyun nods, hands the paid for wine over before they walk out. “Yeah… If it comes up, I’ll... I’ll talk to him about it. Maybe tease a bit, see what he does,” Changkyun smiles.

“Well, yes. _Now!_ ” Jooheon grins. “Let me tell you about _my_ boyfriend.”

“Oh, god, here we go…”

 

I’m outside!! Pls tell the dragon to let me in  
I lost my white horse a mile ago  
Kihyun  
Are you implying I’m a princess in distress  
1 sec  
distress might be pushing it but then again idk how the cooking is gonna go yet  
And okayyyy  
Kihyun  
Worst thing that happened to me was melting a spoon inside the pan  
It’s open  
3rd floor  
Door on the right  
When you exit the elevator  
Your right  
I usually am, yeah ehehe

Changkyun makes his way up the elevator. It says ‘Schindler’ on it. Schindler’s Lift. Seriously?

He knocks at the door to his right. “Hewwo?” he calls out, knocks again. “Looking for a princess!”

“What are you stealing,” Kihyun asks when he opens the door and peeks with one eye only.

“You heart?” Changkyun tries with his widest, cheesiest smile.

“Aish,” Kihyun groans, slides the door open for Changkyun, eye roll so slow it’s still on-going once Changkyun walks in. He laughs, ducks in for a kiss to Kihyun’s cheek before holding up the beer.

“Peace offering.”

Kihyun narrows his eyes at the beer as he takes it. “You’re forgiven, then, I guess.” He tilts his head to the small shoe cupboard by the entrance. “You can leave your shoes there.”

Changkyun kicks his shoes off, bends down to put them away before looking around. The corridor is long, probably goes through the whole flat. But the walls are not white, one of them has a flowery pink and pastel beige wallpaper and the other is pastel pink. It’s the most vintage corridor Changkyun has ever seen, with old portraits of people that are probably family.

Kihyun walks to the kitchen, the first door on the left, and Changkyun follows after him, finds himself smiling a little. The cupboards are pastel green and tidied. The lamps look like old bronze and there’s an isle in the middle that is half counter half table in a very old, unwashed white.

“You okay?” Kihyun asks and Changkyun startles, realizes he was staring.

“Yeah!” Changkyun says, immediately, nods. “Sorry, I was just… You have such a nice place. Don’t know what I was expecting but… This is it.”

“Oh,” Kihyun says, looks around and then turns to the fridge. Such a round, tiny fridge. And yet Kihyun manages to fit the pack inside. “Thank you.” He smiles a little and then looks around again as he closes the fridge. “Places usually look cold to me… So, mom helped me pick something nice.” He looks at Changkyun. “I don’t know how it looks to you but I like how it looks to me.”

“It looks like,” Changkyun says, glancing around some more with a soft smile back at Kihyun. “Like morning kisses, marshmallows and peppermint.”

Kihyun smiles bright at him. “Oh! That sounds nice.” He motions to the door. “I’ll show you the rest. The door behind you leads to the living room. I practically live there, I swear. Sometimes I forget I have a bedroom.”

Changkyun laughs a little, peeks his head through the door to look at the living room. It’s neat but cosy. Floating floor in a light colour. A yellowish pastel beige. Woody cupboards and a brownish couch with a really green, viney plant next to it. “I’m the opposite, actually. I forget I have a living room.”

“The couch is comfortable,” Kihyun says. And, indeed, there are pillows and a blanket all folded over one of the pillows. “And that door,” He points at the door next to the sofa. “Bathroom. You can also access it through the corridor, though.”

“Mental note made in case of emergencies,” Changkyun teases. “Seriously, though, this place feels like a damn hug… I love it.”

“Does that mean you’ll come often?” Kihyun laughs and then leans back a little, points at the last door on the left of the corridor. “That’s my bedroom and that’s it. Small house but yeah. I like it.”

“Are you inviting me to see your bedroom?” Changkyun teases again, walks back to the kitchen despite what he’s saying.

“W--What? No.” Kihyun flushes. “I mean… Not… right now?” He turns into a tomato and starts looking at everything else but Changkyun.

Changkyun huffs a small laugh, feels himself flush, as well. “Well, keep me updated,” Changkyun says, deliberately brushing past Kihyun a little before leaning against the counter. “Your bedroom, after all.”

“Right!” Kihyun says and then clears his throat, looks at the clock. _Cute_. “So… I got us food and snacks. Because!” He points to the living room, “You’ve been teasing me with cuddling for ages and we haven’t done that. So, I wanna watch something.”

Changkyun groans a little. “Great! That sounds great, actually, been a long day… Could use some yellow.”

Kihyun’s eyes widen a little as he blinks and then he smiles when he glances away. “Right. So… How good are you at cooking? Grade yourself, coin-man.”

Changkyun laughs, shakes his head. “You are never going to let that go…” He pushes away from the counter, sways a little. “ _Well._ I’ve never burnt down a kitchen. Mostly I just make junk food I know is bad for me… And I only burn things about twenty percent of the time.”

“Well, thankfully, I’m here,” Kihyun says with a little bow. He paces to the fridge again and brings out a few things. “I’m sure you can use a knife without cutting yourself? Would have to take you to the hospital and that’s not really--” He pauses. “Well, actually! That would be a funny story to tell.”

Changkyun puts a hand to his chest. “You would have me _injure_ myself for the sake of a humorous anecdote?”

“No,” Kihyun laughs and tosses a pack of butter at Changkyun, “But if it happens then I’ll look on the bright side. Instead of,” Kihyun brings two packs of meat out and closes the fridge with his foot, “ _‘Oh, no, he stained my kitchen with blood’_ , I’ll go with, _‘It was great! Had to take him to the hospital and then we watched crappy TV from a hospital bed and ate crisps from the slot machine’_.”

“Huh, that… Actually doesn’t sound too bad,” Changkyun says, pulling a face to show he’s impressed. “Well done. You should become, like, a bright side coach. Get people to see the best in things. What do you want me to do with this..?”

“Wash them and chop them into tiny bits.” Kihyun places the packs over the counter and then tiptoes to the cupboards to grab a cutting board and brings a really, really sharp knife out of one of the drawers. “Here you go,” He places them in from of Changkyun and then looks at the steaks. “I’m going to take care of these bad boys.”

Changkyun gapes a little. “It’s so red!” He leans over to look at it. “That’s one sexy piece of meat, Kihyun.”

Kihyun smiles and then leans in to kiss Changkyun’s cheek. “Glad you like it.”

Changkyun turns his face to sneak in a kiss to Kihyun’s lips before leaning back to his butter, taking it out of the pack and moving to rinse it. “Say, can you tell me more about, like… 'Cause I was just thinking about how hard it would be for me to cook without colour so, I’m just curious. Seeing life through your eyes and all.”

“Oh,” Kihyun takes the plastic wrap off and laughs a little as he blindly feels for the pan drying by the sink. “Hm, well think about it like this. One of the first things you think of when you look at something is what colour it is, right?” He shrugs, turns to go grab something from a box nearby. _Garlic._ “Every time I’m with someone they go, ‘Oh shoot! That’s so red!’. I went to an art museum once and thought it was all just… crap. There was a whole board painted in one single colour. And when I asked why, the guide told me ‘Because no one had invented this shade of purple before!’. And I just thought, hah… Grand.” He sighs and glances at Changkyun. “Things like colour… It’s not something I think about when I’m looking at something. I think about everything else. I think about the shape, the texture… The amount of light or shadow… To me, things are bright or dark. And while sometimes I really wish I could see them… I always wonder how you don’t feel overwhelmed. If colours are the way people describe them.”

“Guess I’m just used to it,” Changkyun shrugs, smiles over his shoulder as he cuts up the butter. “Never really thought about it until I met you. Colour is an odd thing to feel like you’re taking it for granted, but then again, there’s probably a whole lot I take for granted that I’m not even aware of, so…”

“Well, it could always be worse,” Kihyun chuckles. “I could be blind. Now, _that_ would be weird… Can you imagine that?” Kihyun glances up. “Because I can still see. I just… see things in a different light. But not seeing? Not hearing? That… I don’t know if I would be able to deal with that.”

Changkyun walks over after scooping the butter onto a plate, puts it down on the counter. “Yeah. Count your blessings, yeah?” Changkyun smiles at him. “Do you have another job for me or shall I just look at you adoringly for the next twenty minutes?”

Kihyun snorts a laugh. “Suit yourself.” He points to the isle. “There are chairs…” And then places the pan over the stove, turns the heat on. “Recently, though? Sometimes I look at a blinding wall and I’ll think it’s white. Sometimes I think it’s yellow. And sometimes I’m right and sometimes I’m not… But I keep wondering about what they look like.” He glances at Changkyun. “I would love to see your art the way you see it.”

Changkyun thinks of the small amount of money he’s already managed to throw into his savings account, and smiles. “Maybe one day. But then again, then you’ll know just how much I blush and that is simply _unacceptable_.”

Kihyun laughs, tiptoes to turn the ventilation on. _Cute!_ “And you think that’s fair? That you can see me blush and I can’t see you blush?”

“Well, no, but see, the bias is in _my_ favour,” Changkyun laughs. “So hey, lemme take advantage of the benefits! Why do you think I keep saying stupid shit?” Changkyun pokes at Kihyun’s cheek.

“Stupid shit? You mean cheesy stuff? I thought that was part of the package,” Kihyun grins.

“It is,” Changkyun laughs. “Clearly. Thanks for sampling my package, by the way.” Changkyun blinks, puts a finger up as if in his defence. “ _And_ that sounded better in my head.”

Kihyun snorts a laugh and kicks him. And Changkyun notices, in a way that makes him smile, that Kihyun is wearing two different socks. One is blue and the other is red. But it fits. Because if, somehow, if he wasn’t wearing all this colour right now it wouldn’t feel like Kihyun at all. Just like seeing the world in colour has shaped Changkyun in a way, so has seeing the world in black and white shaped Kihyun. Changkyun could be wearing purple and green and Kihyun would smile and say he looks good. It’s all about perspective.

“I like you,” Changkyun says, taking himself a little by surprise. “Just the way you are.”

Kihyun blinks at him and Changkyun notices Kihyun’s shoulders slump a little. He turns to the frying pan and stays quiet for a few seconds before smiling. “Thank you… I think I like myself, too. And,” he looks over his shoulder and his eyes are a bit misty, “I like you, too. Because you tell me pastel purple is like the smell of lavender and that the sky tastes like chocolate.” He laughs and turns to the frying pan, places the first steak in. “And I love that. It’s like magic.”

“A spell,” Changkyun smiles, leans forward. It smells _amazing_ . “All it takes is a little perspective...”

 

 

It’s kind of a weird thing to think, but it’s not such a weird thing to feel. They eat and laugh and Changkyun praises Kihyun’s cooking. Which, surprisingly, was really good for a first try at steak. They wash the dishes and Changkyun tells Kihyun about his alien theory. It makes Kihyun laugh because Changkyun is just so, so serious about the whole thing. And when they cuddle on the couch, wrapped around a blanket while binge watching Star Trek, it’s not a weird thing to feel at all.

The only weird thing is, probably, how cold Changkyun’s feet are against Kihyun’s.

“I’m going to sit on your feet, I swear,” Kihyun warns. “Stop! Chasing my feet!” He wiggles between Changkyun’s arms. “Ugh.”

Changkyun cackles as the Enterprise zips through space. “But you’re so _warm_ ,” Changkyun whines, squeezes Kihyun closer so he can’t wiggle. “Mmm,” Changkyun hums contently, nuzzling into him like a cat.

“Ugh,” Kihyun says and makes a face despite how his heart jumps a little. He tugs at the blanket and pulls it over their heads, tilts his back and to the side, just enough to kiss Changkyun’s cheek. He misses though, because of their angle, and kisses his jaw.

Changkyun hums contently again, lips tilted up, cheeks dimpling as he tilts his head up like he’s a cat (what’s this cat thing, anyway?) being scratched under the chin.

“You’re so weird,” Kihyun laughs, rubs his nose on Changkyun’s jaw and then brings the blanket back down with a huff.

_It’s not a weird thing to feel at all… this falling in love business._

“Say,” Kihyun starts playing with Changkyun’s finger and glances at the TV to watch the movie. “What are your favourite cities? Do you have any? Even if you’ve never been to a few of them.”

Changkyun blinks, clearly taken a bit by surprise. “Uhm? I’ve been a few places… Oslo was nice,” Changkyun smiles. “It felt like a whole different place, you know? Like walking into a storybook. Oh! And London! London was great.”

“Oh?” Kihyun wiggles a bit to turn to look at Changkyun, eyes big. “You’ve been to London? I’d love to visit! Also, Amsterdam! It looks so pretty. The buildings look so funny in all those shapes and sizes.”

“I’ve actually not been to Amsterdam,” Changkyun grins, wide. “Shall that be our first destination?”

Kihyun blinks. “For real?” He narrows his eyes. _Come on, just ask._ “You wanna travel together? I’ve only ever traveled with my parents and it was never outside of South Korea.”

“I travel with my parents, too,” Changkyun shrugs. “But they, like, take me with them and I can just go do whatever I want because they’re at some Ted talk or University conference. They have so many frequent flier miles, I don’t see why we couldn’t squeeze you into a plane.”

“Squeeze me?” Kihyun snorts. Suddenly, he’s excited. “‘Cause I’m such a massive unit.” He laughs. “And am I going as…” He blinks. _Calm._ “Your not-boyfriend boyfriend or as your boyfriend..? Or as your friend.”

Changkyun seems to pause for a second, blinks at the TV and then at Kihyun. “Quick question. What the _hell_ is a not-boyfriend boyfriend?”

“Hm”, Kihyun blinks, too, and then frowns. “Like… when people kinda date but not really? No strings attached, I guess. Friends with benefits? I don’t know…” He swallows for some reason and his face keeps feeling warmer and warmer. “A--Anyway, both are fine. Really.” He plops back down, cheek squished against Changkyun’s chest. _Heartbeat._

“Oh,” Changkyun says, and Kihyun feels fingers in his hair. “Which… Which one do you wanna be?”

Kihyun’s chest tightens a little and he pouts. “Whichever one you’d like…”

“Then…” Changkyun laughs a little nervously. “Do you… Wanna be my boyfriend?”

A sudden relief followed by a little happiness spreads through Kihyun’s body but he keeps himself very still. “Yeah…” He breathes. “I do.”

“Good,” Changkyun says, kisses the top of Kihyun’s head. “That was appropriately awkward, don’t you think?”

“Which part?” Kihyun chuckles. “Honestly, the suspense was killing me.”

Changkyun laughs. “ _Yeeeeah_ , I was already internally debating whether to take you up on that friends with benefits offer.”

Kihyun frowns and raises his head to look at Changkyun. “For real? You thought I wanted to be friends with benefits?”

“No!” Changkyun quickly defends, bringing his hands up as if in surrender. “No, I just! If--If you asked, I would… Probably have said yes? That’s bad, right?” He groans and hides behind his hands. “I really like you…”

_Cute._

Kihyun’s heart is loud in his chest and his brain keeps shooting serotonin into his system. “Friends with benefits wouldn’t do. I get jealous.”

“Me too,” Changkyun groans. “Oh, god, I would have suffered…”

“In an alternate universe maybe you do,” Kihyun jokes, props himself up to crawl over Changkyun and then leans down to kiss his nose. “But I actually want to date you. And fall in love with you. And hope I don’t end up hating you at some point,” he laughs. “Which, I doubt will happen. So, let’s make a deal. When we fight? Let’s not go to bed upset at each other. Let’s try to fix it. Okay?”

Changkyun’s face seems stuck between wanting to smile, pout or cry. He nods, though, wraps his arms around Kihyun’s waist and pull him closer. “Okay. And we’ll be a little jealous sometimes, but trust each other so it’s just cute instead of weirdly possessive,” Changkyun laughs. “We’ll talk about things that bother us before they come between us… And I’ll try my best to make you as happy as you make me.”

Kihyun smiles. Because, indeed, he’s really, really happy. “Then I have one complaint.” He pauses for dramatic effect. “ _Why_. Aren’t you kissing me senseless right now?”

“Because I’m an _idiot_ ,” Changkyun grins, hand at the back of Kihyun’s neck to pull him down into a kiss, like he’s jumping into the deep end of a pool without even bothering to test the water.

Kihyun doesn’t know how long just stay there, kissing. But at some point the movie is over and the credits are rolling. Changkyun’s feet are no longer colder. And they’re both far too breathy, lips all puffy. So, Kihyun leans back just a little and looks at Changkyun’s eyes. It's the first time he manages to see the faint but present lines in Changkyun’s irises.

“Wanna sleep with me?” Kihyun mumbles.

“Depends,” Changkyun says, voice low and breathy. “How much sleeping will we be doing?”

Kihyun kisses Changkyun’s lips. They’re so warm and soft. “I guess you’ll just have to find out.”

Changkyun’s hands move up Kihyun’s thighs, kisses at his neck. “Time to check out that bedroom, then,” Changkyun says, before hiking up and standing up with a soft laugh, Kihyun clinging to him, chest bright, like a little sun is hiding in there, and laughs as Changkyun gasps.

“Lovely curtains you have here!”

“Have you _really_ looked at the bed, though?” Kihyun asks, glances at it over his shoulder.

“Mm, it can wait,” Changkyun says, throwing Kihyun onto it and crawling over him. Kihyun’s breath catches a little and he bites at his lower lip. “You taste like red,” Changyun says, and if the sky tastes like chocolate and Kihyun tastes like red, then it’s probably something safe and comfortable and just a little (just a little) beyond sexy and great.

 

 

The next morning, Changkyun has to go in to work, a special appointment. He still sleeps over, though, borrows a shirt that looks a little small on him without his own jacket over it. He should be tired. They didn’t exactly go to bed early, but Changkyun is all smiles and little touches and sugary sweet words. At breakfast, Changkyun compares Kihyun to eggs (‘ _Fluffy and yellow!_ ’) and calls him baby, says goodbye with a soft kiss and it’s…

“It’s perfect,” Kihyun says, both hands around a warm cup of coffee.

“It’s always perfect in the beginning,” Minhyuk says, rolling his eyes but his bright smile gives him away.

“Could say the same for you, bleh,” Kihyun sticks his tongue out at Minhyuk and then turns to Shownu. Because _he_ understands. “It’s not like my life was bad before? But lately everything is…” Kihyun laughs when he picks the word. “Colourful.” He shrugs and looks down. “I really want to see them… Colours. But at the same time, he makes me feel like I don’t have to.” He groans a little and sinks down. “You know people always react weirdly when my eyes go funny… And he saw that and just asked me to pass him the juice. Like! Everyone is always so concerned even after I explain it’s normal! And he goes, _‘hey, pass me the juice’_ .” He shrugs. “It’s nice to be able to date someone who, despite your own insecurities, actually _knows_ that you don’t need to be carried around…”

Shownu smiles at him, in that wide, squishy soft way that reminds Kihyun of the way his dad used to look at him when he brought home a great rapport card. Minhyuk, though, just looks like he’s waiting for tea to be served or something.

“I take it you actually found the balls to ask him out, then?” Minhyuk asks, Shownu squeezing his shoulder with a loud, “Hey, that’s great!”

Shownu side-glances at Minhyuk. “Try not to ask something _too_ inappropriate.”

Minhyuk pouts and smacks at Kihyun’s leg. “Do you have a boyfriend or not! You can’t just say all these sappy things about him and then _not_ date him.”

Kihyun rolls his eyes, squints a little then a cloud lets the sunlight through and it reflects off his phone. He turns it around, white blotches everywhere. “Yes, we’re dating. _He_ asked me.”

“Of course he did, you wuss,” Minhyuk laughs.

“I don’t think I’ve ever actually seen you this happy,” Shownu smiles, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees and his hands interlocked.

“And to think!” Minhyuk says, throwing his arms up. “We still haven’t even met the guy!”

“Calm down,” Kihyun scoffs, glances at Minhyuk. “You scare people, okay? Anyway, we have that double date planned for next week.” Kihyun looks at Shownu. “You and Soyou can come, too, if you want.”

“Oh?” Shownu perks up. “A triple date? I’ve never even been on a double one, this should be fun.”

Kihyun grins. “And then I can show you my tattoo!”

Minhyuk gapes, eyes wide. “Your _what_? Since when?!”

“Since Wednesday next week.” Kihyun says proudly. “Changkyun drew me something.”

“His name in an-arrowed heart?” Minhyuk scoffs.

“No, stupid,” Kihyun frowns. “It’s art!” He pouts and looks down, shrugs one shoulder. “He’s always so proud of it and he loves it so much. I’ve wanted a tattoo for a while but I had no idea how or what to get… I like what he draws. Because even if I can’t see what you guys see, what he sees, they’re still all the colours of him.”

Shownu’s expression softens considerably with a drawn-out, “Awww.”

“That’s gross,” Minhyuk says, but Kihyun knows it’s Minhyuk-speak for something along the lines of _‘that’s cute, I’m happy for you’_. “Hey, think he’ll draw me a whale? You know I’ve wanted one on the scar over my knee for ages now.”

“Oh!” Kihyun beams. “Maybe? You can ask him when you meet him.”

“You’re all so excited, I’m starting to think I want a tattoo as well…” Shownu mumbles.

“Well,” Kihyun snorts. “I know just the guy…”

 

 

“Maybe I should change it to _Im Inkorporated_ ?” Changkyun pouts, leaning against the counter and flipping through his freshly printed portfolio, up to date. He makes a new one every year, and the pages are so _shiny_. “I feel like people don’t get my joke…”

“Well, you already remodeled the place,” Hyungwon scoffs. “Beats me. You’re the boss.” He sighs and leans over the counter, looks at the wall now bricks instead of white. “Very industrial, though. I quite like it.”

“The term I was looking for is _rustic_ ,” Changkyun says, tossing the portfolio aside on the coffee table. Perhaps his best investment? These couches. It’s like sitting on a cloud. A cloud made of the… skin of… cows. Maybe not. “But I’ll take it. Think Kihyun will like it?” Changkyun asks, grins wide. There’s this little crease between Hyungwon’s eyebrows that seems to be summoned by the mention of Kihyun and it amuses Changkyun endlessly.

“Is he _supposed_ to like it?” 

“I’d _like_ him to like it,” Changkyun grumbles, sliding down into the couch some more.

“Why, planning on sharing the business?” Hyungwon scoffs, reaches for one of the magazines over the counter and starts flipping through it. “What does he even do for a living?”

“He’s a singer,” Changkyun says, quite proudly at that. “He works at the cabaret three blocks up. He’s _really_ good.” Changkyun winks, then, for extra measure.

Hyungwon pauses. “A cabaret..?” He looks up. “That tiny, annoyingly fluffy looking guy? Works at a cabaret? He dresses like the LGBT flag, Changkyun.”

“Not when he’s performing,” Changkyun sing-songs, grins. “Then it’s all… Leather and make-up and sultry gazes and _hnnnn_.”

Hyungwon scoffs a laugh and shakes his head as he keeps flipping through the magazine. “Someone sounds frustrated…”

“Oh, I’m not,” Changkyun sighs, shivers a little at the few images that pop into his head. “I’m really, really not… I should ask him to wear that red collar of his once,” Changkyun says, before realising he’s still talking out loud. Oh, well. Own up to your perversions.

Hyungwon, however, is making a face. “Oh… So you’ve… Great.” He flips another page. “Have you asked him out yet or is he still not your boyfriend?”

“He’s my boyfriend,” Changkyun says, jumping up and smiling wide. “We’re boyfie boyf boyfriend boyfing around…” Changkyun leans on the counter again. “As boyfriends.”

Hyungwon squints at the magazine and Changkyun can see him mouth what Changkyun just said like he’s trying to assimilate it. “Interesting,” Hyungwon says then, with the most uninterested voice ever. He sighs. “By the way, he has his appointment in a few minutes. And he’s not here yet.”

“I knew this was why I hired you,” Changkyun says, smile still bright. “To point out the obvious and drink all my coffee.”

Hyungwon smirks a little. “And to stand pretty at your counter.”

“I could do that, too,” Changkyun says, sticking his tongue out.

“Hey!” Changkyun hears then and sees Kihyun grabbing at the doorway to stop himself from running. His cheeks are red, his eyes are wide behind his glasses and his hair is all curly. “Am I late?”

Hyungwon looks at his wrist watch. “Exactly six minutes and thirty seven seconds… Earlier. Thirty six. Thirty five. Thirty four… And counting.”

“And yet, you manage to always be late to things,” Changkyun scoffs at Hyungwon before walking towards Kihyun, arms held open. “You look cute and a little exhausted! Why the rush?”

Kihyun smiles sheepishly and glances around as he steps in before just walking straight into Changkyun’s arms. “Phone ran out of battery. I couldn’t tell the time. And then I asked someone but they told me the wrong time, apparently… Or I just ran really fast.”

“Aish, like I would have been mad if you were a bit late,” Changkyun rolls his eyes, ducks in for a quick kiss. “Wanna catch your breath real quick? I have everything ready already so.”

“Ah!” Kihyun jumps a little and then turns around, almost shoves his backpack into Changkyun’s face. “I brought snacks for Hyungwon.”

Hyungwon peeks over the counter, and all Changkyun can see is big round glasses and light pink hair. “Snacks for Hyungwon…?”

“Ah… Well, I know it can be kinda boring to stand behind a counter all day, looking at people’s faces,” Kihyun chuckles. “It’s quite literally my part-time job. So… munchies. It helps.”

“He’s actually,” Changkyun says. “Supposed to be studying when it’s quiet.”

Hyungwon whines. “I studied last night, leave me alone.”

Kihyun smiles and, once Changkyun manages to bring out two bags of doritos, turns around again and closes the bag himself while he talks, eyes on Hyungwon. “Do you and your boyfriend want to come with us next weekend? I invited my friends, too,” Kihyun looks at Changkyun. “Is that okay?”

Hyungwon grimaces. “It’s not _camping,_ is it?”

Changkyun laughs. “No,” and turns to Kihyun. “That’s fine. Shownu, right?”

“Yeah. He’s bringing his girlfriend.” Kihyun smiles.

“Great!” Changkyun grins. “Seriously, I need to make more girl friends. _Also_ ,” he says, putting his hands on Kihyun’s shoulders to slowly turn him around in a circle. “What do you think…?”

Kihyun laughs as Changkyun turns him and then blinks around a little. He smiles at the brick wall. _Who_ smiles at brick wall? Yoo Kihyun. “I love it! Seems less… intimidating and looks more cosy.” He looks down at the floor and then at another wall. “I like the textures.”

“Thought you might,” Changkyun smiles wide, a familiar warmth spreading from his chest. “This…” Changkyun says, maneuvering Kihyun over to one of the black slate walls, takes his hand and puts it over it. “Is black. So you’re seeing it right. And here--” Changkyun moves him just a few feet to the side. “The brick is red. It looks warm.”

Kihyun grins and reach up to touch the wall. “But it feels cold.” He looks at Changkyun, eyes big. “Cool, huh? Looks warm but feels cold?”

“Like my heart,” Hyungwon says.

“Your heart is a brick?” Kihyun blinks, tilts his head to look over.

Hyungwon blinks slow. “ _Maybe_.”

Kihyun grins. “If you drop a brick, they break. Are you a sensitive soul?”

Hyungwon fans the magazine out in front of him like a shield, glaring as he brings it up over his eyes.

“And that,” Changkyun whispers into Kihyun’s ear. “Is why it would never have worked out.”

“And because you’re passive aggressive,” Hyungwon mumbles.

“So are you!”

“Well!” Kihyun puts his hands over Changkyun’s shoulders and shakes him a little. “Ready to stab me with needles?”

“Oh, I can’t _wait._ ”

 

 

  
It’s supposed to be a surprise. And it is, if Changkyun can keep himself together. He has for about a week now, the time it took for him to order it, pay and for it to arrive. The hardest part was probably when Changkyun had to ask Kihyun for his prescription and Kihyun looked at him all funny.

“Just in case I wanna borrow your glasses!” Changkyun had said.

Turns out, Kihyun is _much_ blinder than he is. A whole -2 points. So that’s a no on the glasses, but after fishing out Kihyun's contact lens container from the bathroom cupboard, Changkyun’s next biggest priority was _not_ spilling the beans.

He’d been planning this for almost three years now, but there’s a difference between planning something and holding it in his hands. It’s all wrapped, now, a loud, obnoxious red. And if Kihyun takes care of them, it’ll last him years and years, and he knows Kihyun will. The way he’s been taking care of Changkyun, too.

As everything did in their tumultuous relationship, the ‘ _I love yous’_ came fast. Probably too fast, by many people’s standards, but there was nothing except a soft ‘you shouldn’t yet’ at the back of his mind holding him back when he woke up next to Kihyun one morning and just… said it.

It was worth it. Because Kihyun’s face lit up like the sun and he said, “I love you, too!” And it was perfect. It was not crazy. It was comfortable. And even after all this time, it still makes Changkyun's chest bubble every now and then. Because love is not a constant feeling, like all feelings, saved in little boxes inside his heart waiting to be opened. But every time Kihyun laughs or every time they make love, or when they argue about who put the milk in the freezer instead of the fridge, the little box opens and Changkyun thinks, _I love you._

So Changkyun hopes Kihyun will open this little box and feel it, too.

He takes a deep breath, makes sure the rainbow of balloons are tied securely to the chair (goddamn helium, wanting to escape the whole time) and tiptoes into the bedroom. It’s early. Too damn early. Earlier than Changkyun is used to waking up but he needed to make sure everything is perfect. That the house looks at its best, that Changkyun himself looks at his best. He’s still wearing his usual black; just in case everything might be a bit much, Kihyun can always look to Changkyun and see what he expects to, what he’s used to.

He crawls on top of the sheets to where Kihyun is sleeping in a little ball, barely visible under the fluffy duvet. Changkyun nuzzles in though, in that gap between Kihyun and the sheets, kissing softly at his neck.

“Wake up, baby…” And leaves soft kisses on his cheek, his neck, in his hair, until Kihyun stirs. He always frowns when he wakes up. It’s the cutest thing; like he’s already miffed at the world for daring to wake him up. It only last a second, though. Changkyun likes to believe that’s because of him. “Happy Valentine’s Day.”

“Hmmph,” Kihyun throws an arm over Changkyun and forces him to plop down onto the bed, into a cuddle. “Sleep.”

Changkyun laughs softly, squeezes Kihyun even with his arms over the duvet. “Do you wanna sleep some more, mm?”

“I’m okay…” Kihyun mumbles, voice raspy. He throws a lazy leg over Changkyun, too. “Why are you up so early..?”

Changkyun walks his fingers up and down Kihyun’s leg. “Because I have a surprise for you. It’s been three years since we met, do you remember?”

Kihyun chuckles and then gives Changkyun a squeeze. “Oh, right… Valentine’s. We met on Valentine’s.”

“Had our first kiss, too. How sappy is that.”

“Capitalism,” Kihyun laughs a little. “We took advantage of capitalism or capitalism took advantage of us.”

“Both, maybe?” Changkyun laughs, nuzzles in to find Kihyun’s lips and kiss them softly. “Now come on, I’m just as excited about this surprise as you should be so up and at ‘em! Do you need help showering? I can take your shirt off--” Changkyun teases, tugging at Kihyun’s t-shirt.

“I’m fine!” Kihyun groans. “Do I need to shower?” He pouts. “Are we going somewhere?”

“Yep,” Changkyun says, kisses his pout. “Why do you think I look so fancy schmancy this morning? Wearing _pants_.”

“Ah, right, _pants.”_ Kihyun deadpans. “Humanity’s prison.” He stretches with a little with an unfair moan and then goes limp for a second before sitting up. “Fine. Give me twenty minutes.” He squints at the window. “Jesus… It’s night outside…”

“Or really early morning, depending on how you look at it!” Changkyun chirps.

“Well,” Kihyun snorts as he slides off the bed. “It just looks dark to me.”

 _Not for long._ “Yeah, yeah, blame the eyes,” Changkyun teases, rolling his. “Uhm, do me a favour and wear your glasses today…?” Changkyun asks, smiling as innocently as he can.

Kihyun pauses by the door and looks over his shoulder. _Damn. Legs._ “Is this a new kink of yours..?”

“Maybe. Possibly. Yes.”

Kihyun narrows his eyes, slides one hand under his shirt to scratch at his navel. “Alright…” He says and then turns to walk to the bathroom. “Pick me clothes then, will you?”

“Sure!” Changkyun calls back, jumping off the bed. He rummages through Kihyun’s clothes, smiles when he sees a bright yellow cardigan and throws it on the bed, with light blue jeans and a pastel blue shirt. “It’s on the bed!” he calls into the bathroom, before quickly running to the kitchen to warm up the rice cakes. Get some food into him, just in case.

The best thing about Kihyun is that when he sets a time, he usually sticks to it. So twenty minutes? He actually walks into the kitchen twenty minutes later, hair already dried, clothes on, nose sniffing for food. He’s wearing the glasses from the picture Changkyun had first seen on MonBebe.

“I made us breakfast,” Changkyun says cheerfully, gesturing to the table, red box behind his back and balloons tied to Kihyun’s chair.

Kihyun blinks at the balloons and smiles small. He looks at Changkyun then, steps closer and kisses his lips. “Thank you.” He grins. “But! Before that!” He gives a little run to the corridor and waves Changkyun closer. Careful not to let him see, Changkyun puts the box down on the counter behind him and walks closer, frowning curiously.

“You got me something?”

Kihyun keeps walking backwards into the living room and then stops, points at the wall. “Happy Valentine’s Day.”

When Changkyun looks over, he smiles so wide it hurts. Their pictures, from all the way back, three years ago, taken in a small photo booth as they had their first kiss. One of their moments, captured, like a small piece of time preserved.

“I love it,” Changkyun says, leaning forward to look. Even with the filter Kihyun had chosen, it’s obvious to see how they’re both blushing.

“Cutest first date ever,” Kihyun chuckles. “It was one of the best days of my life. So… It deserved to be on the wall.”

“Ugh,” Changkyun says, reaching up to wipe at his eyes. “It’s going to be a whole day of sappy crying, I can feel it…”

Kihyun laughs. “Oh god… What did you get me…”

_A recipe for tears._

“Come on,” Changkyun says, taking Kihyun’s hand to sit him down at the small dining table, stand with his back to the red box and motion for Kihyun to eat. “Few bites or you’re not getting anything.”

Kihyun frowns despite the curious look on his face. “Alright, then. Bossy…” He says. And as he eats he tells Changkyun about something funny that happened at work last night. What is just a few bites ends up with Kihyun finishing his meal and Changkyun just nervously and excitedly looking at him.

“Okay,” Changkyun starts, then, smiling wide. “I got you…” He turns around, takes the box and scoots closer to Kihyun, so their chairs are next to each other before he hands the box over. “This. Open it...”

Kihyun looks at the tiny box and frowns. “If this is a marriage proposal, I should warn you we need to leave South Korea for that,” he mumbles, slowly reaching for the box.

“If it was, there’d be plane tickets attached,” Changkyun laughs, bouncing a little in his seat as he watches Kihyun unwrap the box.

Kihyun’s eyes go wide the moment the wrapper is off the the tiny, black box beams the words ‘EnChroma’ at him. He frowns for a second and looks up at Changkyun with questioning eyes, lips parting in a question he doesn’t voice.

Changkyun smiles softly, moves a little closer. “They’re contact lenses. It’s _really_ new so it was some trouble getting them but… I called your optometrist, your ophthalmologist, just to make sure but… They’ll let you see colour, Kihyunnie.”

Kihyun’s bottom lip trembles and he blinks when his eyes water up behind his glasses. “Uhm…” He looks at the tiny box a frowns, hand reaching up, bumping his glasses up when he tries to clean his eyes. “I don’t…” He sniffles and looks away, fingers linking between each other in that nervous habit of his.

“Hey,” Changkyun says softly, taking Kihyun’s glasses off carefully to wipe at the tears. “It’s okay… If you don’t want them, if it’s too much, it’s okay…”

Kihyun shakes his head a little and then looks at the little box again. “I want…” He frowns and looks at Changkyun, smiles a little. “Thank you… Thank you so much…”

Changkyun’s heart pulls something terrible, tugs at his tear ducts as he nods. “Yeah, you’re welcome, Ki. I love you so much…” Changkyun smiles and wipes a few more tears. “See? Recipe for tears, today...”

Kihyun laughs and it’s a little wet. He sniffles and rubs his wrists over his eyes, blinks and looks up to dry them a little. “Will… Will it work?” He asks, then, looking back down and taking the lid off to reveal the contacts. There’s a bit of colour to them, they’re dark and the irises seem to reflect a bunch of highlights the way sunglasses do.

“They told me it would,” Changkyun smiles, nods. “It’s still a very new technology but they said you should be able to see just fine. The solution is already on, but you should dip them some more just in case… Is there… Is there anything you want to see first?”

“You,” Kihyun says like it’s easy. The tears collecting a little in Changkyun’s eyes threaten to spill over, so he blinks and sniffs and nods.

“I should…” Kihyun blinks. “Go wash my hands and…” He bites at his lower lip. “Why am I scared..?” He laughs at himself. “I just… I don’t know? Is ‘I don’t know’ a feeling?”

Changkyun laughs, too, stands up to walk with Kihyun to the bathroom, hand on his arm. “Yeah, it kinda is. Fear of the unknown… That’s why it’s just you and me, yeah?”

“Yeah…” Kihyun sighs. “Yeah… I prefer it like this, too, I think…” He reaches for the lens fitting on the cupboard and the solution. His hands are shaking a little.

“Guess I know you pretty well, huh,” Changkyun says, also feeling a little nervous. He hopes it works. Even just a little. The opthamologist he’d spoken to, Kihyun’s specifically, had assured him it would. Anything between 80-95%. Which is… a lot. It could be a lot for Kihyun. So Changkyun stays close, soothes a hand down Kihyun’s arm and kisses his shoulder over the bright yellow cardigan.

Kihyun fumbles a little but manages to put the lenses in the solution. “The texture is a little different from my usual contacts…” He takes a deep breath and picks up one of the contacts. “I feel weird…”

And it’s slow. The moment the first lens is on his eye, Kihyun blinks and says it feels ‘thick’ which makes them both laugh. He keeps blinking, moves his eye around to adjust the lens and suddenly gives a little jump back.

“What…” He blinks at himself in the mirror and frowns a little. When he breathes in, it’s shaky.

“Halfway there,” Changkyun says, smiling a little. It… looks like it’s working. There’s a slight blue tint to Kihyun’s eye, as well, now, over the brown.

Kihyun slowly reaches for the other contact and repeats the process. This time, however, after blinking a hundred times, he just stares at the mirror with a weird expression on his face, like he’s seeing himself for the first time. He gives a small step back and his eyes dart towards the bright blue towels. He steps away from them like they’re on fire, hand coming up to his mouth as he keeps looking around the bathroom and then at his own hands as he thumbs at his fingers.

Changkyun lets out a breath. He’s not sure if it’s relief (they must be working, then!) or worry. “You okay…?”

Kihyun looks at Changkyun at the sound of his voice, eyes looking slightly big and scared. But when Kihyun’s hand falls from his mouth, his lip trembles a little and he frowns, his eyes keep moving all over Changkyun, up and down and up again and then down. And Kihyun just nods slowly before his face crumbles and he sobs.

Whatever composure Changkyun might have had, crumbles with it. He closes the gap between them as fast as he can, holds him close, feels the way Kihyun’s body shakes as he cries. And Kihyun clings to him, closes his eyes to avoid having the contacts melt all the way down, probably, and then buries his face in Changkyun’s chest.

And it’s okay. Changkyun knows it’s a lot, must be so, so much to take in, so he just moves his hand over Kihyun’s back, presses a kiss or two to the top of Kihyun’s head. “It’s okay, baby, I got you.”

They stay like for a while. Until Kihyun sniffles a bit and cleans the tears around his eyes without rubbing at them. And when his eyelids flutter open again and he looks around the bathroom, frown so strong it looks like it hurts, Kihyun clings to Changkyun, holds his hand and looks at things. At everything. He looks at Changkyun's black shirt sometimes and Changkyun can tell it was a good idea to wear black.

Kihyun looks at his hands, then, holds them up to Changkyun’s cheeks and looks so confused. “It’s different…” He says, almost like a breath. And then his breath hitches just a little in a silent sob but he doesn’t cry, just keeps staring. “I couldn’t… see it before but you’re…” He lets his hands down and looks at them. “I don’t… know…”

Changkyun smiles a little. “You’re paler than I am… Not much, just a little. Everyone has a slightly different skin tone, you’ll see…”

“What…” Kihyun turns and holds Changkyun’s hand again. “What is that?” He points at the bright blue towels.

Changkyun heart is so damn _warm_. “A brighter shade of blue. The sky looks like that when it’s sunny.”

“It does?” Kihyun asks like it’s the weirdest thing he’s ever heard.

Changkyun laughs a little. He’s so cute. “Yeah, it does. We’ll watch the sunrise soon, yeah? It’s why we’re up so early.”

“Oh god… Is it… I’m going to die if I go outside…”

“We don’t have to!” Changkyun quickly says, laughs. “It was just an idea. We can look at the bathroom the whole day if you want, seriously.”

Kihyun looks around the bathroom and points at a green bottle of shampoo. “What is that? It’s so… bright...”

“Green,” Changkyun smiles. “Light green. Like… some grass is green like that. Apples. Anything mint flavoured, really.”

“Green apples are my favourite apples,” Kihyun mumbles. “And I just know that because people tell me it’s green. Food actually looks like that?” He sniffles peeks behind Changkyun while holding onto his wrist with both hands. “I like… the corridor…”

“Oh,” Changkyun says. “That’s pink. Pastel pink, anyway. Kind of like… blushing.”

“Oh!” Kihyun turns to Changkyun, eyes wide. “I wanna see you blush!” Kihyun’s eyes narrow when he looks at Changkyun’s lips. “So…” He struggles. “Red…”

Changkyun laughs, then, smiling wide. “You’ll just have to make me blush, then. And yeah, my lips are red and,” Changkyun ducks in for a quick kiss. “So are yours.”

In the corridor, Kihyun traces his fingers over the flower patterns on the wallpaper, stares for minutes at photographs he’s seen a million times, but doesn’t ask questions. He sees himself again in the bedroom and startles when he sees the colour red. But it’s beyond rewarding when he looks at his cardigan in the mirror, smiles and says;

“Yellow.”

Changkyun comes to stand behind him, rest his chin on Kihyun’s shoulder with the most affectionate expression he’s ever seen on himself. “How did you know?”

“Because you always say it makes you smile…” Kihyun mumbles, smile small. “It made me smile, too.”

They stay like that for a bit, just looking in the mirror, happy at the fact that for the first time, they’re seeing the same thing. Changkyun sees some sunlight through the window, moves to quickly peek outside before wrapping his arms around Kihyun’s waist, smiling at him through the reflection.

“You haven’t looked at your tattoo yet…”

“I’m afraid I’ll cry…”

Changkyun nods, kisses his cheek. “How about purple, then?”

“Purple?” Kihyun blinks, keeps looking at his clothes in the mirror and then at his hair. He turns around with Changkyun pasted to him and walks back to the corridor and then into the living room. Quickly backtracks with a small “Oh god,” and takes Changkyun to the kitchen where they stop and Kihyun stares at the balloons.

He moves a little closer and slowly takes a yellow balloon in his hands, lets it go and takes a blue one and then keeps moving through them like he’s searching for something. He stops though with one purple balloon in his hands. He blinks at it, breathes in like he’s smelling something and then offers it to Changkyun.

“Purple,” Kihyun says, eyes doubtful but voice certain.

Changkyun realises that when he nods, a few tears escape his eyes. “Ye--yeah, purple… That’s purple…”

“It’s you,” Kihyun says, “And it looks like the smell of lavender.”

Changkyun can’t even _begin_ to think how Kihyun must feel, if Changkyun’s heart feels like it’s about to overload. Changkyun quickly wipes at his eyes and takes the balloon Kihyun is holding out. “Guess I said the right thing, then,” Changkyun says, voice thick.

He’s never been this happy for somebody else. Never in his life. But he’s elated, so damn happy his body betrays him and turns it into tears. But he keeps looking at Kihyun, at the slight shine of blue in his eyes, how they take in everything around them like it’s…

“Like magic,” Changkyun says, smiles.

Kihyun smiles at him then, so, so bright. “I wanna see your art…” He grabs at his arm, over where his tattoo is. “And I want you to take me where you wanted to take me. But you’re gonna have to hold my hand…” He looks around. “I can’t believe you see things like this… It’s like, like everything is calling you at the same time. I don’t even know where to look…”

Changkyun laughs, soft and low. “Yeah, colours are greedy for attention. And I was just… I was just going to suggest that we go, go look at anything you want to. And when the sun sets we can go to the hill where we said we were falling in love, where you told me about yourself… And you can see the sunset for yourself.”

“I…” Kihyun sniffles and blinks when his eyes betray him again. He looks up and blinks some more. “I wanna see your portfolio and I want you to tell me about the colours you use… And… I want to watch a movie.” He looks at Changkyun. “Can we watch a movie?”

“Of course, yeah, of course,” Changkyun says, lets the balloon go and float to the ceiling, a small ribbon hanging down as he keeps wiping at his eyes, walks to get one of his portfolios out of his backpack. “Do you wanna watch it here or at the cinema? I’m fine either way, I just wanna hold you for a bit,” Changkyun laughs under his breath.

“Oh god, no... The cinema is too scary…” Kihyun gasps. “It’s big…” He fumbles with his sleeve.

“That’s what he said,” Changkyun teases, walking over with the portfolio. “Do you like yellow?” Changkyun asks, following his gaze before walking past him to the couch. A slightly worn, comfortable leather couch from the studio.

Kihyun looks around some more as he tugs his sleeve up on the way to the couch. He stops to look at his arm, though, slowly sits down and stares. Flowers between geometric shapes that break the colours in black and white before they turn yellow, green and blue with a few pinks.

Kihyun thumbs at it, eyes a little wide before his lip trembles and he bites at it. “All the colours of you…” And when he looks up, tears in his eyes but smile bright, he looks right at Changkyun and says, “I love you. Thank you for bringing colour into my life.”

Changkyun puts the portfolio aside, shifts closer on the couch and lets his heart go wild in his chest. He holds Kihyun’s face between his hands, smiles and says, “Right back at ya.”

Life has funny things. Like how someone who always saw the world in black and white owned the most colourful personality Changkyun’s ever had the pleasure to meet. Or how chance encounters sometimes do their thing and the spark turns into a flame.

So, maybe it was all a bunch of numbers, a silly algorithm made by a very close friend. But it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter if it was slow or fast. If it began in a silly phone app or a bump of shoulders on the street. What matters is that it feels right, happy and safe. What matters is that the first months felt like minutes and three years felt like weeks.

What matters is that love has many colours. 

And Changkyun’s love might shine a little yellow. But Kihyun’s is a deep, velvety purple. It’s different for everyone. And while purple and yellow might be entirely different, they work so, so well together.

**Author's Note:**

> That being said, here's a warning;  
> Colour blindness doesn't have a cure. And while EnChroma has developed a few glasses for the most common, easy to work with types of colour blindness (they're developing contact lenses now), they don't work for total colour blindness (the rarest one). But this is fiction and therefore we took some liberties. As such, we hope you enjoy this piece of work. It's one of our favourites.
> 
> Hope we managed to bring some colour into your life today!!


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